Mark Selby is in confident mood ahead of the Champion of Champions, in Coventry, tomorrow.
The world's top 16 players come together at the Ricoh Arena this week for the new £270,000 event, with plenty of exciting showdowns in prospect.
Selby, who gets the tournament under way against Shaun Murphy tomorrow, was replaced as world No.1 by Neil Robertson earlier this season.
Although the Jester from Leicester admits he would love to regain top spot, the 30-year-old says he enjoys playing without the pressure of being top of the rankings.
Selby is targeting his first tournament win of the season but knows that, with such a strong line-up, becoming the first champion of champions will not be easy.
"It's guaranteed to be an event that all the top players will be looking to win," he said. "All the top players are playing, so it is a fantastic event to be involved in, and it's going to be good for the fans seeing all the top players in action.
"It's going to be tough and I'm pretty pleased with my game at the moment, so who knows.
"Returning to No.1 is a target, but I'm just happy to have achieved it already.
"It would be good but it doesn't have much of an effect on me."
Selby is well aware of the rivalry between Leicester and Coventry, but said he has an affinity with the tournament's host city. "I used to play in the Coventry Snooker League because, back then, you were allowed one professional player on a team, so I used to travel over every Wednesday night," he said.
"I made some great friends in Coventry, who I used to see week in, week out so, hopefully they will be there cheering me on too."
Others vying to be crowned Champion of Champions this week are world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump and Robertson.
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