Selby wins thriller final to conquer world title
|
Mark Selby - the 2014 world champion |
Mark Selby managed to do the unthinkable and beat the five-time world
champion (also until now reigning champion), Ronnie O'Sullivan by
18-14, after a really thrilling final that saw the Jester from Leicester
being led 10-5.
It's been a marvellous final this one,
even if the first two sessions proved to be quite dull (
more about them here). However everything changed when these two grand masters of the
green baize returned today to have their third session of cues crossing.
At this points O'Sullivan was in control, leading by 10-7.
And
the first thing that was different was indeed Mark Selby. A good night
sleep suited him well, as the Englishman practically stormed in into a
strategical battle powerfully sustained by breaks of 55, 52 and 74 which
make sure his comeback was the real deal. The scoreline was now showing
a perfect 10-10 partial result.
|
Ronnie O'Sullivan - the 2014 World Championship runner-up |
But Selby didn't stop
here and won one more frame, a scrappy one, in which his biggest break
was a 28. But it didn't matter, because for the first time he was in the
leading position and by counting the last two frames he captured during
the previous session, the Jester was no on a 6 one in a row. Massive!
A
dramatic 22nd frame say both players taking turn in potting some very
uncooperative snooker balls, in the end though O'Sullivan (who was
practically "numb" as he himself would state after the final) managing
to wrap things up with a top break of 50 and so draw level at 11 apiece.
The
next frame lasted no less than 50 minutes and so the session was cut
short, but the most important things was the fact that it was indeed a
genuine battle of nerves. It all ended on the colours, with Ronnie
missing the final pink that would have secure him the frame!
At
57-67, Selby keep his head cool and managed to pot both the pink and the
black to take the lead once more, this time at 12-11.
|
Mark and wife Vikki celebrating the victory |
No
more than two hours later Brendan Moore (the ref in charge who btw was
reffering the World Final for the very first time) was announcing the
start of the final session when a practically revived Ronnie O'Sullivan
was smashing every ball on the baize for a spectacular 100 break that
was drawing level.
But that was about it from the
mighty Rocket, for Selby used runs of 34, 23, 25 and 56 to grab the next
three frames and go 15-12 ahead. This was getting serious!
Unfortunately
Ronnie started biting his nails and saying things under his breath,
which all snooker fans know it's a bad sign. Add this to missing
important balls and you have one very frustrated player.
Still,
he found the strength to hit in runs of 30 and 49 in order to pull back
a frame, before Selby could strike in breaks of 127 and 87 to go one
away from victory.
|
Ref Brendan Moore receiving a medal from Barry Hearn |
The last frame was an absolute
thriller as Ronnie got the first chance, runs of 15 and 41 giving him a
solid start of 56. On the other side of the table Selby was missing a
red on 22, but when his opponent potted the cue ball and got on with the
chance, he made a perfect clearance of 35 to win the frame, the match
and the final for that matter on the black!
Selby
raised his arms up in the air (a bit like Dennis Tayler when he beat
Steve Davis in 85 - only in a more dramatically way) to celebrate his
first world title. He waited for 7 years to reach the final of this
beautiful event.
O'Sullivan proved to be gracious in defeat, admitting Selby was the better player, "too strong" for him and that sadly he "didn't have it today".
|
Ronnie gets second prize |
At
the same time Selby said that when you win the World Championship you
want to win it by playing Ronnie O'Sullivan and mentioned how important
this victory is for him. His dad died when is was but 16 years old, just
turning pro and Mark promised him he will win the World Championship on
day for him .... (pause for crying ...oh come on, don't be shy I know I
cried a bit).
The victory as well as the fact that
he's re-become (if I may say so) world number one, was shared with his
beautiful wide Vikki who's been by his side, in the audience feeling
each miss and cheering for each pot.
|
Hear me roar! |
So, here it is
peeps, after 17 days of pure madness the snooker marathon comes to an
end. A sad and emotional day for me, I must say, but what a great
present to have this final.
It's been a while since I
felt so much tension and emotions running wild in a Crucible finale, so I
can't but be grateful for Selby and O'Sullivan put on quite a snooker
show.
Congrats to Mark Selby for proving that even if
the entire world finds his cue style boring he can still win with it and
congrats to Ronnie O'Sullivan for reaching yet another final and for
keeping the dream of so many young players alive.
These two, as different as they are, are the best!
0 comments:
Post a Comment