WINNING another UK Championship title is more important to Mark Selby than staying at world number one.

The Leicester potter, who opened his campaign at the York Barbican with a straightforward 6-0 victory over Joe O'Connor, said amassing titles was what it was now "all about".

Asked which mattered more, Selby, who has been top of the rankings this time since February, said: "Winning tournaments for me. That was the aim during my career - to try and get to number one - and I've managed to fulfil that now.

"Don't get me wrong, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to stay there. It is a nice feeling.

"But at the same time, the way the format is now, everyone seems to start in the same round. As long as you are in the top 64, that's all that matters because you are playing someone seeded 65 to 128.

"So everyone is the same boat and everyone who is playing has got the same chance as me to win the tournament. For me it is all about trying to win more tournaments now."

O'Connor seemed to suffer a serious case of stage fright from the outset of the match, struggling to make simple pots as Selby simply walked to victory without having received any kind of test.

After a blistering first two frames, where Selby opened with 113 and then added 90, the game became more scrappy as it was increasingly apparent the six-time ranking event winner would not be punished whatever balls were missed.

O'Connor scored a total of 33 points throughout the first five frames before doubling his tally when making a fight of the final frame. But this was little more than potting practise for the 2012 UK Champion in the Minster city.

Selby said: "I started off well. I had a hundred and 90 in the first two frames, which put Joe under pressure from the off because I knew he would be nervous out there anyway.

"He has not been in that environment very much. It was a tough game, though. I want Joe to do well and fulfil his potential - what he can do in snooker - but it was just odd that we drew each other and we are both from Leicester."

He continued: "The key was the start. If Joe goes out there and wins a frame, whether it is in one visit or five visits, and settles and gets off to a good start - it could be a tough game and a different game.

"The first two I played well, the third frame was a little bit scrappy and the fourth frame I got in and missed one or two and lost a little bit of concentration. In patches I felt as though I could go on and win frames in one visit and felt really good.

"It's just all about winning. It doesn't matter how you do it. If you win prettily, great, if you win horribly - it doesn't matter. As long as you get to six first."

Having been whitewashed 6-0 by Neil Robertson 12 months earlier in the main arena, O'Connor said: "He played well at the start and I didn't get a shot for a couple of frames, which was a bit of a shock.

"I played all right. He played well and was too good for me. He is in a class of his own. I would have liked to have won a couple of frames but that's how it goes. I had a couple of chances but, watching him play and the way he closes out frames, was all good experience for me and I hope, in a couple of years, I can be where he is."