Best News: Mark Selby beats Ronnie O'Sullivan to win world title





Last updated at 22:55

Mark Selby staged a remarkable comeback to beat defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 18-14 in the final of the World Championship in Sheffield.

Leicester's Selby, runner-up in 2007, was 10-5 behind but won 10 of the next 12 frames for a 15-12 lead.

Five-time champion O'Sullivan, who had never lost a world final, reduced the deficit to 15-14, only for Selby to win the next three frames.

His victory means he returns to the top of the world rankings and leaves O'Sullivan two behind Stephen Hendry's record tally of seven world titles.

Selby, 30, is £300,000 richer for his Crucible triumph and is the ninth player to win the Triple Crown, having won three Masters titles and a UK Championship.

He immediately dedicated his success to father David, who died in 1999.

Age: 30

Born: Leicester

Turned pro: 1999

"It's not really sunk in but my father passed away when I was 16 and I always said I wanted to win the world title for him," he said.

"I dug in; I did not play pretty snooker early on but as it wore on I did well. There's no better way than beating Ronnie in the final."

Selby looked jaded on Sunday following his epic semi-final against Neil Robertson but managed to win the final two frames to stay within three of O'Sullivan, who wrapped up his last-four encounter against Barry Hawkins with a session to spare.

Selby has a history of overcoming deficits against O'Sullivan in big games. In the Welsh Open final in 2008 he came back from 5-8 down to win 9-8, and in the Masters final in 2010 overturned a 6-9 deficit to win 10-9.

Selby was a different player in Monday's first session, winning five of the six frames played and dragging his rival into unfamiliar territory, O'Sullivan having never before trailed heading into the final session of a Crucible final.

Selby made breaks of 55, 52 and 74 - his highest of the match so far - to level the contest at 10-10 before winning a tense 21st frame to lead for the first time.

O'Sullivan retook the lead after the mid-session interval, winning an error-strewn frame courtesy of a run of 50. But a jaw-dropping moment in the final frame of the session, which lasted 50 minutes, handed Selby the lead again.



The momentum having swung this way and that, O'Sullivan only needed a simple pink into the middle pocket to clinch the frame but inexplicably decided to play it with pace and missed the pot. Selby duly cleared up before punching the air and ramming his cue into the ground in a mixture of relief and elation.

Eight frames were scheduled for the session but it was a measure of the attritional nature of the action that they could only fit six in before the interval.

O'Sullivan won the first frame after the restart with a fluent break of 100, his third century of the match, to level at 12-12. But Selby won a 28-minute frame to restore his advantage before opening up a two-frame lead for the first time.

Selby compiled a break of 56 to increase his lead to three frames before the mid-session interval, meaning O'Sullivan had lost 10 of the previous 12 frames.

O'Sullivan came out firing after the restart, rattling in breaks of 30 and 49 to reduce the gap to two frames. And O'Sullivan potted a magnificent yellow down the cushion before clearing up the rest of the balls to make it 15-14.

But Selby reacted in style, knocking in a break of 127, his first century of the match, before compiling a run of 87 to get to within one frame of victory.

O'Sullivan had chances in the next frame to stave off defeat but after he missed the final red Selby pounced to complete a nerve-jangling clearance.

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