Mark Selby coming to terms with being a snooker great

The world number one was praised far and wide after landing his third Crucible title.

Ronnie O'Sullivan saluted his "#lethalsnooker" and Stephen Hendry predicted Selby would sit at the top of the rankings "for a very long time", while two-time former world champion Mark Williams said he was "so cool under extreme pressure".

As well as lifting the Betfred World Championship trophy for a third time in four years, Selby matched the record of five ranking titles in a season and took his prize money for the campaign to over £930,000.

But he is as self-effacing as sport stars come, and the 33-year-old from Leicester will not be getting carried away with his success.

More world titles are likely to follow for Selby, who was backed by runner-up John Higgins to chase down Hendry's record of seven.

"To get to three is more than I expected and to win it once, I'd have been happy with that. To win it three times is unbelievable," Selby said.

"If you win it more than once then people think of you as one of the greats.

"But it's hard for me to see myself as that. I just see myself as Mark Selby the snooker player.

"This year I've had a good season with five ranking events and it's definitely the best season I've had.

"People say nobody can dominate in this era because of the standard. You could say I've dominated this season but over the past I haven't.

"To try and have another season like this will be really, really hard. All I can do is just keep on working hard and keep on doing my best."

Twelve months ago, Selby's second world title was overshadowed for many by the news of Leicester City winning football's Premier League on the same night.

This time it will be celebrated more effusively, with his beloved Foxes sending Selby their congratulations on Twitter after he edged out Higgins in a gripping contest.

Selby acknowledged that last year's success was put in the shade by Claudio Ranieri's history-makers.

"At the same time I wasn't too disappointed with that because with Leicester winning the Premier League, how many times is that going to happen?" Selby said.

"It'll probably never even happen again, so I was okay with them taking the limelight away from me, and I was happy to know I was a two-time world champion at the time.

"I didn't really get much of a party back home. I paraded it out on the (King Power Stadium) football pitch as I always do when I win a tournament, which is more than good enough for me."

This time there could be a mural in Selby's honour installed in the city centre, Leicester mayor Peter Soulsby told the BBC, and he has been promised VIP treatment.

But Selby said: "I still don't think I'll get an open-top bus.

"I always get invited to a lot of dos and always get free tickets to the football, they really look after me. I'm sure they'll put some sort of party on."

Selby will allow himself time off after the exhausting 17-day title defence in Sheffield ended in glory.

There was a charming sight at the tournament after-party of Selby and Higgins, with their respective wives Vikki and Denise, on the dance floor laughing and smiling together. Higgins, far from taking the 18-15 defeat badly, believed he had been involved in a match worth celebrating.

And in the early hours of Tuesday morning there was the sight and sound of Selby belting out Frank Sinatra's My Way and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline.

The time has come for a break, but Selby will need to only walk into his snooker room at home to get the competitive juices flowing again. For that is where he keeps all the silverware and awards that have come his way.

He said: "To go in there and see all those trophies it inspires you, seeing what you've achieved, and it makes you want to win more."