Mark Selby joins snooker elite in retaining his world title with hard-fought win over John Higgins
English player becomes only fourth player in last 40 years to achieve the feat
England’s Mark Selby successfully defended his world snooker championship, beating four-time champion John Higgins 18 frames to 15 in a thrilling contest.
The 33-year-old Englishman had trailed 10-4 at one stage but just as he did against Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2014 he fought back to win, becoming only the fourth player in the past 40 years to retain the title.
“I can’t believe it, I am still pinching myself now,” Selby said.
“From 10-4 to get to 10-7 yesterday, I was over the moon as I had nothing left. He outplayed me yesterday. Today I came back fresh and was a lot better.
“When I was 10-4 down I was missing everything and had nothing left.
“I said ‘pull something together’. If you lose, you want to at least go down fighting.”