Mark Selby (L) and Ding Junhui in the final of the 2016 World Snooker Championship. (Photo : Getty Images)
Tournament qualifier Ding Junhui of China fell to current world no. 1 Mark Selby of England, 18-14, in the final of the 2016 Betfred World Snooker Championship held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England on Monday.
Ding, the current world no. 17 and also a former world no. 1, had to go through the qualifiers to enter the tournament after he dropped out of the world's top 16 players. The 29-year-old made history even with his loss as he became the first Asian player to enter the final of the World Snooker Championship all-time.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Selby also made history by becoming only the "sixth multiple world champion in Crucible history", joining the likes of Stephen Hendry (7), Steve Davis (6), Ronnie O'Sullivan (5), John Higgins (4) and Mark Williams (2) in the elite list of multiple winners, as per The Guardian.
Selby first won the crown back in 2014, in similar fashion against O'Sullivan.
Selby built what seemed like a commanding 6-0 lead over Ding to open the final round, but the Chinese superstar managed to claw back and make it 8-7 after a hard-fought 15th frame. The Englishman then settled for a 10-7 advantage to finish the first day and first two sessions of the match.
Selby still led 14-11 as the two players scored four frames each in the 8-frame third session. He then made it 16-11 in the fourth and final session before Ding fought back in three straight frames, making it 16-14.
It was a test of mental toughness for the Leicester, England native as he took the next two frames to reach 18 points and become the World Champion once again.
"It is fantastic," Selby said after the match, via BBC Sport. "It was very special to win it two years ago, but I felt under a lot more pressure now than I did two years ago."
"In the first to 18, a 6-0 lead is not a huge one, especially against someone like Ding. He played fantastically earlier today and I had to just hang on to him," said Selby.
"I'm just over the moon. I saved my best performance for the final and I only had two good sessions in the tournament. Luckily my 'B' game is pretty good," he added.
