Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) 14-18 Mark Selby (3)
Session One (5-3): 77-0 (69), 64-26, 102-0 (102), 28-69, 47-68, 80-8 (63), 36-72, 66-54Session Two (5-4): 99-24, 70-47 (52), 67-27 (63), 25-82 (55), 45-96, 131-0 (131), 87-0 (87), 9-84 (58), 9-78 (62)
Session Three (1-5): 35-81 (55), 23-77 (52), 7-84 (74), 29-89, 76-38 (50), 67-70
Session Four (3-6): 100-0 (100), 24-67, 39-64, 12-90 (56), 79-0, 0-131 (127), 14-87 (87), 56-62
MARK SELBY dedicated his first World Championship victory to his late father after he beat defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 18-14 at the Crucible Theatre on Monday.
The Jester from Leicester became only the ninth player in snooker history to complete a career Triple Crown of the World, UK and Masters titles.
And he did so thanks to one of the best comebacks in years, having been 8-3 and 10-5 down during the course of the two-day finale.
Certainly, Selby - now also back at world number one - must be credited for taking the tough route to his first world title.
After all, he had only just qualified for the final having got the better of the in-form Neil Robertson in a 12-hour marathon.
By contrast, O'Sullivan had earned the day off on Saturday by beating his semi final opponent Barry Hawkins 17-7 with a session to spare.
It was the second match in a row that O'Sullivan had won prematurely after he had beaten Shaun Murphy 13-3 in the quarter finals, thus repeating the feat which he had achieved on his way to the title in 2004.
Indeed, O'Sullivan's more straightforward build-up to the Final seemed to have given him an advantage as he went 3-0 up with his 11th century of the tournament.
But Selby hung in and reduced his arrears to 3-2 either side of the mid-session interval before the more fluent O'Sullivan compiled a run of 63 to move two clear again.
The final two frames of the first session were shared - and so, resuming at 5-3, O'Sullivan was again able to open a gap on his opponent in the evening by taking the opening three frames to move five clear at 8-3.
He then responded to Selby taking two in a row by keeping him off the table for the next two frames as he restored his five-frame lead at 10-5 with runs of 131 and 87.
At that stage, it was looking pretty ominous for the 30-year-old challenger but Selby again came up with the goods unexpectedly as breaks of 58 and 62 reduced his overnight deficit to 10-7.
On the back of a good night's rest, the 2007 runner-up came into the second day looking more refreshed - and promptly made the more assured start.
Runs of 55, 52 and 74 brought him level with O'Sullivan before he then won a scrappy 21st to take the lead for the first time.
O'Sullivan stopped the rot by taking the first frame after the mid-session interval following a series of poor shots by both players on the yellow and green.
But none of those misses could compare to O'Sullivan's unbelievable error on pink which effectively lost him a 50-minute long frame 23.
It had been an afternoon of sheer drama at the Crucible with Selby, nicknamed the Torturer by O'Sullivan, in his element as the players were called off two frames short of their allocated eight.
O'Sullivan badly needed a good start to the evening session - and he got one as he levelled with a ton in seven minutes.
The speed of his break in that frame was to prove deceiving, though, as the next three frames were ground out by Selby who went in at the final mid-session 15-13 up.
Again, O'Sullivan responded as a 49 break brought him back to within a single frame.
But Selby had long since sensed his chance and loosened up to play some of his best snooker of the whole tournament, hitting a break of 127 in frame 30 and an 87 in frame 31.
That still left him with one to go - but, while O'Sullivan looked as if he might receive a stay of execution by going 56-0 up in frame 32, it ultimately wasn't enough.
With the balls spread in awkward positions, it seemed to be a tough ask for Selby. However, he gradually reduced his deficit as he reached the colours, knowing he would need them all.
At this point, Selby must have been shaking inside but he showed few nerves as he sunk those final few balls, his calmness under pressure in demonstration to the very last pot.
Finally, a broad smile emerged on the Jester's face as he held the silver trophy aloft. Yes, all the hard work had paid off, and now was the time to enjoy it.
At the same time, though, O'Sullivan was far from miserable. This was his first defeat in six appearances in the Crucible final - and, if the reverse had come earlier in his career, it would have no doubt been swiftly followed by a threat to quit the game.
Instead, O'Sullivan acknowledged he had still had a good tournament and reflected calmly on the excellent matchplay of his opponent.
To paraphrase Rudyard Kipling, O'Sullivan - with the help of his psychologist Dr Steve Peters - has now seemingly learned to treat those two imposters, Triumph and Disaster, just the same.
And, oddly enough, the five-time champion came much closer to a real Disaster on his way back to Essex from the final as he was involved in a road accident on the M1 in wet conditions.
Thankfully, he and his six-year-old son Little Ronnie were unhurt, if a little "shaken", something which can hopefully just be put behind them in the coming days.
In the meantime, in these coming days, it might finally start to sink in for Selby exactly what he has achieved...
At last, a world champion and thus a more credible world number one than he has ever been before. Bravo, Mr Selby.
FULL TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Best of 19 frames
| Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) | 10-4 | Robin Hull | |
| Joe Perry (16) | 10-7 | Jamie Burnett | |
| Shaun Murphy (9) | 10-9 | Jamie Cope | |
| Marco Fu (8) | 10-7 | Martin Gould | |
| Barry Hawkins (5) | 10-4 | David Gilbert | |
| Ricky Walden (12) | 10-7 | Kyren Wilson | |
| Mark Davis (13) | 5-10 | Dominic Dale | |
| Ding Junhui (4) | 9-10 | Michael Wasley | |
| Mark Selby (3) | 10-9 | Michael White | |
| Ali Carter (14) | 10-8 | Xiao Guodong | |
| John Higgins (11) | 7-10 | Alan McManus | |
| Stuart Bingham (6) | 5-10 | Ken Doherty | |
| Judd Trump (7) | 10-8 | Tom Ford | |
| Stephen Maguire (10) | 9-10 | Ryan Day | |
| Mark Allen (15) | 10-4 | Michael Holt | |
| Neil Robertson (2) | 10-2 | Robbie Williams |
SECOND ROUND
Best of 25 frames
| Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) | 13-11 | Joe Perry (16) | |
| Shaun Murphy (9) | 13-8 | Marco Fu (8) | |
| Barry Hawkins (5) | 13-11 | Ricky Walden (12) | |
| Dominic Dale | 13-4 | Michael Wasley | |
| Mark Selby (3) | 13-9 | Ali Carter (14) | |
| Alan McManus | 13-8 | Ken Doherty | |
| Judd Trump (7) | 13-7 | Ryan Day | |
| Mark Allen (15) | 7-13 | Neil Robertson (2) |
QUARTER FINALS
Best of 25 frames
| Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) | 13-3 | Shaun Murphy (9) | |
| Barry Hawkins (5) | 13-12 | Dominic Dale | |
| Mark Selby (3) | 13-5 | Alan McManus | |
| Judd Trump (7) | 11-13 | Neil Robertson (2) |
SEMI FINALS
Best of 33 frames
| Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) | 17-7 | Barry Hawkins (5) | |
| Mark Selby (3) | 17-15 | Neil Robertson (2) |
CENTURY BREAKS (58)
140 Neil Robertson
137 Ricky Walden, Neil Robertson
136 Ding Junhui, Marco Fu, Ronnie O'Sullivan
135 Michael Wasley
134 Stephen Maguire, Barry Hawkins
133 Mark Selby
131 Ronnie O'Sullivan
132 Neil Robertson
130 Ryan Day, Neil Robertson
127 Mark Selby
124 Ronnie O'Sullivan (x2), Marco Fu
118 Ronnie O'Sullivan
117 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump
116 Marco Fu
115 Barry Hawkins
113 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson
112 Shaun Murphy, Ricky Walden, Ronnie O'Sullivan
111 Jamie Burnett, John Higgins
110 Ali Carter, Mark Selby
109 Ricky Walden, Marco Fu, Mark Selby
108 Michael Wasley, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson
107 Alan McManus, Ryan Day, Judd Trump
106 Dominic Dale, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Barry Hawkins
104 Barry Hawkins, Mark Selby
103 Michael Wasley, Neil Robertson, Ronnie O'Sullivan
102 Robin Hull, Neil Robertson, Ali Carter, Shaun Murphy, Ronnie O'Sullivan
101 Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson
100 Neil Robertson, Ronnie O'Sullivan
CENTURY MAKERS
13 Ronnie O'Sullivan
10 Neil Robertson
5 Mark Selby
4 Barry Hawkins, Marco Fu
3 Shaun Murphy, Ricky Walden, Michael Wasley
2 Judd Trump, Ali Carter, Ryan Day
1 Dominic Dale, Alan McManus, Jamie Burnett, Ding Junhui, John Higgins, Robin Hull, Stephen Maguire
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