How to Select Hyperlink Text in Google Chrome?
EDIT: Updating this answer since the latest Chrome (v52) now works the same way as Firefox:
Pressing ALT while selecting text prevents hyperlinks being followed, and therefore allows all or partial text in links to be selected and copied.
Ignore the rest of this answer.
This question is old, but it pops up as the top result in Google so I'd like to point out a better way with the latest Chrome (v44).
Start the selection just above the text (not below like the top voted answer). Just before the mouse cursor changes to a hand. This way you can drag to the right and don't need to mess with the left arrow (which doesn't seem to work anyway).
It would be nice if Chrome supported ALT-select like Firefox does, since the above method fails if there is selectable content immediately above the link text... but it's good enough most of the time!
The answer is:
Put the mouse cursor below the hyper link just after the cursor changes to the arrow. Now press the left button and move the mouse until the required text is selected. If you put the cursor above the hyper-link it does not work in most cases.
Try this extension: Hyperlink Text Selector