Mark Selby enjoys World Championship and Leicester City double
Last updated on .From the section Snooker
Mark Selby hailed "the best night" of his life after winning the world title for a second time, 13 minutes after his home town Leicester were crowned Premier League champions.
Selby, 32, beat China's Ding Junhui 18-14 to become only the sixth multiple winner of the title in the modern era.
"I don't know what is more of a shock, me winning it a second time or Leicester becoming champions," he said.
"To win the title once is great, but to win it twice is a dream come true."
- Selby on 'surreal' Leicester double
- Watch: Best shots of the tournament
- Relive frame-by-frame coverage
- Full tournament scores
At the start of the season, Leicester were 5,000-1 to become champions, while world number one Selby went into the final still searching for his best form.
"Hopefully in another two years they will win the Premier League again and I will come back and win again," he added.
"I'm quite emotional. When you look at people who've won it twice, to join that elite group is something special."
Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams are the only players in the modern era to have won two or more titles.
Selby's first world title victory against O'Sullivan in 2014 was the same year in which Leicester were promoted to the top flight from the Championship.
On Monday evening, Selby - whose nickname is the Jester from Leicester - potted the first red of his match-winning 74 break at the same time as the final whistle blew at Stamford Bridge.
"I didn't know Leicester had won it until after," he said. "The guy who was sat next to me called Brian told me the Chelsea v Tottenham game was 2-2 and Leicester are champions. That was the first time I knew.
"Going out there, I knew the game was kicking off but I tried not to think about it too much to distract me from what I had to do."
Selby brushes off criticism
Selby admitted he had played "average or lower" during the tournament and came in for criticism because of his slow and meticulous style of play.
A 66-minute frame on the first day of the final was just 10 minutes short of the longest frame at the Crucible, set by Selby and Marco Fu in the semi-final.
Asked if the disapproval of his performances upset him, Selby said: "Not really. Some of the frames I made breaks in one visit and I looked at the time and it played on my mind a little.
"When I made a break, I looked at the scoreboard and saw it was around 10 or 11 minutes so obviously it was not that slow.
"It was just when the frames were scrappy, when I played safe, and that put Ding under pressure."
Ding finally feels at home
China's Ding came over to England at the age of 15 and has been living in Sheffield - the home of the Crucible Theatre - for the past decade.
The 29-year-old qualifier missed the chance to become the first Asian world champion, but despite falling short this time, showed his class with 15 centuries during the tournament.
"It is the first time I felt like I have played at home," he said. "The fans wanted me to win the title and they love to see other countries' players win it. It felt good.
"People will be disappointed in China but there is nothing disappointing in reaching the final. I just wanted to enjoy the day.
"Five years ago I was in the semi-finals, this year I took one step up, maybe next year I will win it, but it is great experience for my career. I may never have a chance again but I enjoyed the final. Not many players can get in the final."
Reprieve and resolve - key moments from the final
Frame two, an early blow: Needing a snooker with the colours from the green remaining, Selby managed to get it and cleared to go 2-0 ahead.
Frame seven, on the board: Having fallen 6-0 behind, Ding finally got his first frame of the final. He needed a couple of chances but the puff of the cheeks showed his relief.
Frame 10, a reprieve: Selby was in among the reds when a miscue allowed Ding to counter-attack with a 76 break and he took the next two as well to cut the lead to 7-5.
Frame 15, marathon of the mind: Ding won the 66-minute frame but it seemed to take a lot out of him as Selby won the next two to lead 10-7 after the first day.
Frame 23, resolve: Ding had closed to within one at 11-10, but Selby made a breaks of 52 and 68 to hold a 14-11 advantage.
Frame 27, winning line in sight: Ding was on 60 points when he lost position on the penultimate red as Selby cleared up to go two away from victory.
Frame 31, vital scrap: Ding had made breaks of 73, 70 and 103 to leave Selby not having made a pot for an hour, but the Englishman took a scrappy 50-minute frame to edge closer to the winning line which he managed in the next frame.
| Selby's ranking titles |
|---|
| 2008: Beats Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-8 to win Welsh Open |
| 2011: Beats Mark Williams 10-9 in Shanghai Masters final |
| 2012: Lifts UK Championship trophy with 10-6 win over Shaun Murphy |
| 2014: Wins World Championship 18-14 against Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| 2015: Secures German Masters and China Open titles |
| 2016: Clinches second World Championship |
| Also won the Masters, an invitational event, in 2008, 2010 and 2013 |
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*groans*
Seriously, the most unbelievable sporting day any city could wish for.
ENJOY the good times guys....youve all earned it
Old enough to remember Snookers golden age when the contrast in styles attracted the viewers between the likes of Higgins White & Stevens & Davis, Thorburn, Griffths & Charlton
Snooker needs Selby as much as it needs Ronnies attacking or Ding break building.
Dont understand some people calling Selby boring, you win at any cost, do you want him to just come out and start smacking balls everywhere like Alex Higgins did? If you would find that entertaining, go down to your local club and do that yourself. It was good solid match play.
And of course it would have meant so much more to him... being the first player from Asia to ever do it.
I really hope he does it one day.
Been a snooker fan for decades, and watched every world championship - the pockets this year were definitely bigger. Many shots that really shouldn't have dropped, did. Even the commentators noticed.
He just grinds his opponents down and before you know it he has won the match.
I watched his every game at Sheffield and he was definitely not up to scratch in all of his matchs, yet the man won.
He really is a class act.
But BBC, the event's been televised for the last 17 days, it's one of the biggest events still covered on BBC, so why is it so hard to find the snooker news on the website?
Many matches in this year's tournament were utterly compelling, well done to Mark Selby, Ding Jun Hui, Alan Mcmanus, to name but a few
Selby is excrutiatingly slow (rather like Jason Day in golf). Couldn't stand to watch more than a few minutes at a time.
But none of them could take advantage of his poor break building play and they all struggled against his constant safety play.