The Northern Ireland Open is sandwiched between two Chinese tournaments on the schedule, the Xi’an Grand Prix and the International Championship – a scenario which Selby thinks should be avoided.
“It’s quite poor really,” he said. “We went to China just before this and if you get to the final you you only have one or two days before you fly out to China again.
“You’ve got to put your health first because it does take its toll. Travelling is tiring.
“When you go to tournaments you want to go there fresh and give yourself the best chance. Sometimes you can’t always do that with the schedule.”
The opening months of the 2025-26 season have yielded different winners of each of the six ranking tournaments and a huge variety of different finalists, plus a remarkable 13 maximum 147 breaks, including two each for Ronnie O’Sullivan, Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Aaron Hill of Ireland.
A record 15 maximum breaks were achieved throughout the whole of last season, while the previous two seasons saw 13 compiled and the total did not reach double digits before that.
Selby put the increase down to the depth of talent on the professional circuit these days.
“I just think the standard is so tough nowadays,” he added. “There are no easy games any more.
“I don’t think it’s much better at the top but further down the ladder the standard is very, very tough.
“Having so many different winners just shows where the tour is at.”
