Ding JUNHUI 14-18 Mark SELBY (2)
Session one (2-6): 8-125 (91), 68-70 (DJ 52), 43-101 (76), 0-124 (120), 0-100 (70), 38-77, 68-47, 107-14
Session two (5-4): 22-73, 92-30 (76), 103-1 (103), 93-49 (89), 1-71, 86-0 (86), 82-52 (55), 25-86, 27-67
Session three (4-4): 121–7 (89), 61–56, 11–126 (126), 103–0 (103), 43–75 (52), 9-118 (68), 69-1 (52), 11-75 (55)
Session four (3-4): 0-103 (57), 60-67 (DJ 60), 87-0 (73), 108-0 (70), 103-0 (103), 11–59, 0-74 (74)
WORLD number one Mark Selby sealed a second world title after defeating Chinese opponent Ding Junhui 18-14 at the Crucible in Sheffield.
Selby, known as the Jester from Leicester, made a 74 break in the 32nd frame to take victory at the relatively early time of 10.08pm.
Earlier on in the final, Selby had taken a commanding 6-0 lead - something which came as a surprise as he had endured a tough semi final, including a Crucible record 76-minute frame, against Marco Fu.
Understandably, though, the hitherto fluent Ding was nervous in his first world final appearance and almost shed tears of relief when he finally got on the board after Selby had missed a blue in the seventh frame.
Ding also won the eighth and last frame of the first session to set up what appeared to be a fascinating Sunday evening.
Indeed, the suspense and tension only grew as the 29-year-old Chinese player took three of the first four frames, and four of the first six, to reduce his arrears further to 8-6.
At this stage, Selby - despite having held the lead from the start - was playing well within himself but, in what was to become a theme of the match, the 32-year-old came back and regained control of the match.
The 15th frame became an epic, lasting more than an hour. More than just that though, at least three-quarters of the time was spent with Selby chasing two snookers.
Of course, Selby was quite accustomed to long frames after his record tussle on the previous day against Fu - and, in all, he laid 13 snookers.
And, while Ding prevailed to drag the score back to 8-7, the frame knocked the Chinese Dragon out of his rhythm, and Selby subsequently took the last two frames to lead by three overnight.
Again neither of those were classics and, in another long frame, the 17th and last of the night, Selby wasted two easy chances to end the session by potting the green.
In a role reversal, Ding had put Selby through the wringer, laying nine snookers - but the Jester, his eyes red raw with tiredness by the end, still escaped with a handsome lead.
Ominously, the bank holiday Monday afternoon session threatened to be more of the same slow grind as, despite a promising 89 from Ding in the first frame of the day, the balls then went awkward in the second.
Ding again took it, surprisingly outlasting Selby in a 50-minute ordeal by winning on the final black - the gap was back down to one at 10-9.
Selby, though, knocked in what would be the highest break of the match with a run of 126 to a restore a two-frame advantage.
But then, incredibly, Ding responded with his own century of 103 and the mid-session interval had come sooner than anyone had imagined.
The latter part of the third session, though, went to Selby as he again wrestled control of the match by taking three of the last four frames to lead 14-11.
With only four more frames required for victory, it was no surprise to see Selby start the evening quickly and he took the first two frames to extend his advantage to 16-11.
Nevertheless, the 27th frame really should have fallen to Ding after his break of 60. Selby's 33 clearance, however, meant he had only once previously been in a stronger position in the match, and that was at 6-0 up.
At this stage, there was a genuine concern that Ding might wilt - instead, though, he came out fighting valiantly and breaks of 73, 103, and 70 put the final back in the balance.
Incidentally, the 103 break took the number of centuries at the 2016 World Championship up to 86, level with the Crucible record set last year.
But, unlike this fine tournament as a whole, this final never seemed destined to be a true classic.
Clinical Selby made sure of that, winning a 51-minute frame to go 17-14 up before a carefully-constructed 74 break put the matter beyond doubt.
Just as Leicester City were winning the Premier League, courtesy of Tottenham Hotspur drawing against Chelsea, the Jester from Leicester was making his own big impact on the world of sport.
"It is fantastic," he said afterwards. "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.
"It was a tough final and, with the amount of pressure Ding is under from China alone, to play like that - I can't imagine how he could do that."
Yes - as much as this final was for Selby and his position as a multiple snooker world champion, it was also a massive deal for Ding and the country of China.
Ding was the first Asian in a world snooker final and his appearance came in the context of him having badly lost his way before this year's tournament.
His surprising fall to 17th in the rankings meant he was forced to qualify for the Crucible for only the second time in his professional career.
And, though he commendably knuckled down and won his three qualifying matches with ease, his record in Sheffield - one semi final in nine attempts - was unpromising to say the least.
However, in a first round victory over Martin Gould and a 13-10 triumph over Judd Trump - which sounds more dominant than it was - Ding had played himself into form.
The Jiangsu potter then beat two-time winner Mark Williams in the quarter finals 13-3 with a session to spare and, remarkably, ended up as favourite for his semi final against fellow qualifier, 45-year-old Alan McManus.
Five centuries in the opening nine frames threatened to blow the Scotsman away and, though McManus came back, an audacious attempt at a 147 in the 20th frame - which only failed on the 15th black - showed Ding was always going to have too much.
In much the same way in the Final, Selby capitalised on his status as favourite and his early dominance ultimately proved vital in him joining a pantheon of greats.
Since 1969, only Stephen Hendry (7), Steve Davis (6), Ray Reardon (6), Ronnie O'Sullivan (5), John Higgins (4), John Spencer (3), Alex Higgins (2), and Mark Williams (2) have won more than one world crown.
And, indeed, in an annus mirabilis for sport in the city of Leicester, it seemed destined Selby would add himself to the list.
EARLIER RESULTS
FIRST ROUNDBest of 19 frames
| (1) Stuart Bingham | 9-10 | Ali Carter | |
| (16) Stephen Maguire | 7-10 | Alan McManus | |
| (9) Ricky Walden | 10-8 | Robbie Williams | |
| (8) John Higgins | 10-3 | Ryan Day | |
| (5) Judd Trump | 10-8 | Liang Wenbo | |
| (12) Martin Gould | 8-10 | Ding Junhui | |
| (13) Mark Williams | 10-4 | Graeme Dott | |
| (4) Neil Robertson | 6-10 | Michael Holt | |
| (3) Shaun Murphy | 8-10 | Anthony McGill | |
| (14) Marco Fu | 10-2 | Peter Ebdon | |
| (11) Barry Hawkins | 10-5 | Zhang Anda | |
| (6) Ronnie O'Sullivan | 10-7 | David Gilbert | |
| (7) Mark Allen | 10-3 | Mitchell Mann | |
| (10) Joe Perry | 9-10 | Kyren Wilson | |
| (15) Michael White | 7-10 | Sam Baird | |
| (2) Mark Selby | 10-6 | Robert Milkins |
SECOND ROUND
Best of 25 frames
| Ali Carter | 11-13 | Alan McManus | |
| (9) Ricky Walden | 8-13 | John Higgins (8) | |
| (5) Judd Trump | 10-13 | Ding Junhui | |
| (13) Mark Williams | 13-8 | Michael Holt | |
| Anthony McGill | 9-13 | Marco Fu (14) | |
| (11) Barry Hawkins | 13-12 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (6) | |
| (7) Mark Allen | 9-13 | Kyren Wilson | |
| Sam Baird | 11-13 | Mark Selby (2) |
QUARTER FINALS
Best of 25 frames
| Alan McManus | 13-11 | John Higgins (8) | |
| Ding Junhui | 13-3 | Mark Williams (13) | |
| (14) Marco Fu | 13-11 | Barry Hawkins (11) | |
| Kyren Wilson | 8-13 | Mark Selby (2) | |
SEMI FINALS
Best of 33 frames
| Alan McManus | 11-17 | Ding Junhui | |
| (14) Marco Fu | 15-17 | Mark Selby (2) |
CENTURIES (86) - joint record with 2015
143 Kyren Wilson
141 Barry Hawkins
140 Michael Holt
139 Ronnie O'Sullivan
138 Marco Fu, Ding Junhui
136 Marco Fu, Alan McManus
135 Marco Fu
134 Mark Selby
133 Mark Selby
132 Mark Selby, Ding Junhui
131 Ding Junhui
130 Kyren Wilson
129 Kyren Wilson
128 Alan McManus, Ding Junhui
126 Mark Selby
125 David Gilbert, Alan McManus, Mark Selby
124 Ronnie O'Sullivan
123 Ding Junhui
122 Mark Allen
121 John Higgins
120 Mark Selby
119 Anthony McGill, Alan McManus
118 Ronnie O'Sullivan
117 Anthony McGill, Liang Wenbo
115 Michael Holt, Mark Selby
114 Alan McManus, Marco Fu
113 Stuart Bingham, Ding Junhui
112 Ding Junhui
111 Marco Fu, Martin Gould
110 Ding Junhui
109 Shaun Murphy, Michael Holt, Ding Junhui
108 Sam Baird, Marco Fu
107 Liang Wenbo, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Alan McManus
106 Judd Trump (2)
105 Shaun Murphy, John Higgins (2)
104 Mark Allen, Robbie Williams
103 Sam Baird, Ali Carter, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen (2), Ding Junhui (3)
102 Ali Carter, Mark Williams, Michael White, Marco Fu, Barry Hawkins, Ricky Walden
101 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby (2), John Higgins
100 John Higgins, Ding Junhui (3), Sam Baird, Ali Carter, Marco Fu (2)
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