MARK SELBY HAS won the 2014 World Snooker Championship after an 18-14 win over defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Crucible this evening.
Selby – who trailed 8-3 and 10-5 at different stages Sunday – won five of the six frames on offer in Monday’s afternoon session and took a 12-11 lead into tonight’s final session.
With O’Sullivan looking to become just the fifth man in history to win while trailing in the final session, it didn’t take the Rocket long to level things up, his 100 break coming in just seven minutes 38 seconds.
However, Selby again showed the grit that has defined him in this final and took the next three frames to lead 15-12 and ensure O’Sullivan had lost more than 14 frames for the first time in a World Championship final.
After a mid-session break, five-time winner O’Sullivan bounced back again, a remarkable yellow in the 29th frame helping him cut the gap to just one frame at 14-15.
However, that prompted Selby’s best snooker of the match with a wonderful break of 127 followed by 87 to restore his three frame lead and, though O’Sullivan went 56-0 ahead in the 32nd frame, Selby chipped away and nailed all the colours to win.
Selby returns to world number one with the win.
