Selby out-Foxes Ding in final
Leicester man’s 18-14 win makes it great night for city
MARK SELBY claimed his spectacular 18-14 triumph in the 2016 Betfred World Snooker Championship final last night was even more special as it formed half of a famous Leicester double.
With Selby’s beloved Leicester City securing the unlikeliest of Barclays Premier League titles thanks to Chelsea’s lastgasp 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, he did what he had to do at Sheffield’s iconic Crucible Theatre to beat Ding Junhui and lift the trophy for the second time in his career.
An estimated 150 million people were watching Ding – the first Asian to reach the world final – back home in China and perhaps that burden of expectation weighed too heavily on him.
But to his credit, he fought valiantly over the two days, falling 6-0 behind early in the match yet closing to within a frame on multiple occasions.
He could never quite fully eradicate the deficit, however, and in frame 32, Selby held his nerve to finally complete the job and join an elite list of men to have won two world titles at the Crucible Theatre – pointing up to his family in the crowd at the moment of victory.
Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan are the only other men to have triumphed multiple times at the Crucible and Selby acknowledges that this success may be even sweeter than his 2014 triumph, having battled despite failing to produce his best snooker over the past fortnight.
“It feels fantastic, it was very special to win it for the first time two years ago but I felt under a lot more pressure coming here this year,” said Selby.
“I honestly don’t know how I’ve won. I saved the best for the final and played well in the last session of the semi-final against Marco Fu but other than that I was bitting and bobbing.
“I played my B-game mostly and thankfully I have a good B-game to fall back on. I didn’t get an open-top bus tour two years ago, so I don’t know if I will this time. But Leicester City have done fantastically – just a small city like ours, to be Premier League champions from where we were last year is fantastic.
“I’d just like to say a big thank you and a big congratulations to Claudio [Ranieri] and all the boys at the Foxes.”
Like all true champions, the world No.1 – who ends the season top of the rankings for an incredible fifth year in a row – came up with the goods when it mattered most, making two centuries and eight further halfcenturies during the course of the final.
For his part, Ding has long been tipped as Asia’s first world snooker champion and his per- formances in Sheffield this year suggest he will undoubtedly have other chances to lift the famous trophy in future years.
Ding was the first man since Jimmy White against John Parrott in 1991 to fall 6-0 behind in a World Championship final and although he fought back to give himself a chance, the Chinese superstar acknowledges that the slow start cost him dearly.
“I had a very bad start falling 6-0 behind and I just couldn’t win a frame because I was nervous, as I had been to a World Championship final before,” said Ding.
“Mark played well to win the second frame which was a big frame, so I was just sitting down there thinking I need to win some frames, so I should just go for it.” one more reprimand to go,” said Hamilton.
“The last [reprimand] was bloody ridiculous.”
Hamilton is now 43 points behind Rosberg. While Rosberg has cantered to four straight victories, Hamilton’s campaign has been blighted by a number of mechanical issues.
On Sunday, a water leak from Hamilton’s engine, already replaced after it expired in qualifying, curtailed his advances from 10th to second.
At one stage he was less than eight seconds shy of Rosberg, but was forced to cool his charge in an attempt to nurse his stricken Mercedes home.
Hamilton crossed the line behind the German.