Here is Aaron Bower’s report.
Righto, that’s us done then. Thanks all for your company and comments, sorry I couldn’t use them all, and hope you enjoyed tonight and the last fortnight as much I did. For a while, it looked like Luca Brecel would sleep with the fishes, but Don Mark let him live and now there’s a new name on the silver lady.
Check back here or on site for our match report, but in the meantime, peace out. I’m afraid I’ve not a clue what we do tomorrow.
Mark will be back, we know that for sure; the challenge for Luca is using this as a stick not a carrot. He should enjoy his win, but he needs to come back and go for it again and again and again. When it comes to natural talent, he’s up there with pretty much everyone who’s ever played the game and he’s proved these last two weeks that he can beat the best – Mark J Williams, Ronald Antonio O’Sullivan, Si Jiahui balling out of his skull and Dat Guy Selbz – over the stretch. Even if he never wins another tournament, he’s been etched into the annals of humanity for evermore, but the world is his – if he wants it.
Luca has moved up the world rankings from 10 to 2 but tonight is anything but a 10 to 2er, and has taught us all a lesson: don’t take anything, yourself included, too seriously; take attacking options; back yourself.
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Mark accepts his runners-up medal from Barry, then Luca does likewise and raises the silver lady – one handed. His mum, dad and girlfriend join him, and what a moment that is. All that effort, schlepping him about, supporting him, encouraging him, scolding him. What joy, what love!
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Luca, remember, spent the build-up to the Cruce drinking with his mates; imagine the celebration they’re having tonight this merry month of May. “It shouldn’t be legal” chuckles Luca, and you can tell he’s great value on a night.
“All your life you’ve waited for someone to say Luca Brecel, you are world champion,” says Hazel. Luca says he can’t see anymore, he’s not sure why, and there’s no one worse to play in a final than Mark. At 16-15 he didn’t fancy himself, but he made a good break to win it, he doesn’t know how he did it. Nothing changed this time, he says, it’s just that snooker is a difficult sport and he could’ve lost first round to Ricky Walden who he beat 10-9, it’s fine margins. But no more tears yet so Hazel goes for low-hanging fruit asking him about his team; he say he has the best friends, parents and girlfriend in the world before adding “I’ve heard some news and I don’t know if i should stay it, so stay strong Vicky.” Another gent, hopefully she’s OK.
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“My goodness it’s good to see you back Mark Selby,” says Hazel, and I’m gone. In the other corner, Luca is gone too, flannel over eyes. “You deserve it mate, you played fantastic,” Mark tells him, then asked about his maxi says he’d always wanted one at the Cruce, never thought he’d do it in a final, and the racket at the end will stay with him for a long time. “But it’s not about me,” he says congratulating Luca again who he says kept hitting shots to nothing and played great over two days. “Twelve months ago it was good to just come back and play,” he says, and even now he knows there are things more important than snooker – Vicky, his wife, knows it too, and health is the most important thing. What a gent.
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Luca Brecel beats Mark Selby 18-15 to win the World Snooker Championship 2023!
He’s the first winner from mainland Europe and he’s done it his way, in swashbuckling, inspiring, affirming style! An incredible performance, and what a smile! He embraces Mark, shakes his head, takes a second to absorb just a fraction of what he’s just done, then shares a long, tearful hug with his dad that merits an essay.
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Selby 15-17 Brecel (0-76) Mark will regret that missed black for long, long time, but he knows what he’s done, he knows he’ll be back and he knows he’s won more important battles these last few months. He’s a great of the game, a hero, and Luca sinks frame-ball red! The pink follows, e stays down on the shot enjoying the moment, AND L;UCA BRECEL IS CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! LUCA BRECEL IS CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! He pots a red, spreads his arms, and milks the greatest moments of his life. What a run, what a player, what a sport!
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Selby 15-17 Brecel (0-39) A lovely cut with the rest, and Luca has done what he does! Taken on a succession of taxing pots to create some easy ones, and the silver lady is beckoning him over! He’ll have lived this moment a million times in his dreams and daydreams, balls where he wants them to be and world title within his grasp. He’s barely in his body now, watching himself playing himself playing his game, and he’s five minutes away from Hazel making him and all of us cry.
Selby 15-17 Brecel (0-16) A nice little cannon in the process sending black to left corner opens another red, and Luca is flying now. We see his family, and how on earth must they be feeling? The way their boy is going about this, it’s all under control.
Selby 15-17 Brecel (0-7) Luca might feel he’s over the worst; he’d back himself to win one of three frames against anyone. If Mark had got level, you’d have feared for him, but he now knows he can play with title on the line and that his opponent is feeling it too, aware that one error can mean curtains. These fine-motor sports are so difficult to play when you’re under it because the margin for error is so slight, and have a look! Mark catches a red on the side on his route back to baulk, leaving the white up the business end! So Luca gets away to left-centre, develops the pink, and can he do now what he’s been doing all week, conjuring a chance via the application of pure potting genius?
Selby 15-17 Brecel Mark tries a snick to left corner, misses, leaves it, and Luca Brecel is a frame away from becoming world champion! He takes a moment outside of the arena to compose himself while Mark knows that he got himself into position then, right as he looked poised to strike, he missed a ball he had to pot. It’s a lot out there.
Selby 15-16 Brecel (2-58) This game. But this game in particular. Mark nudges a red, and it only runs along the rail and into right corner! BUT OH MY DAYS! He misses the brown, Luca just about prods in a starter with the rest, then blue to right-centre means when he plays safe, Mark requires two snookers.
Selby 15-16 Brecel (1-52) A poor safety from Mark leaves Luca a shot at one to right corner; he punches it down so firmly it almost wedges in the jaws, then knocks the green safe. He’s 51 in front with 67 left…
Selby 15-16 Brecel (1-51) Pretty straight on the black, Luca debates which red to play for and how; a couple of hours ago, he’d have been through the shot by now. In the event he makes sure of the pot, screwing back to bring a ball off the rail, then plays a containing safety and sits down disappointed not to have made more – there’s a sad shake of the head – but a good deal better then when Mark was addressing that black. This next exchange is colossal.
Selby 15-16 Brecel (1-40) Luca looks dead behind the eyes as he pokes to right corner with the rest, playing off memory as he tries not to think. A black allows him to bump a few reds into play, and this is the thing: Mark was so far behind so close to the end that he didn’t really have the scope to make the kind of mistake he just did.
Selby 15-16 Brecel (1-15) Oh Luca; oh mate. I almost wonder if Mark’s as well to leave tempters now, so far is Luca from potting them, and he misses a long one that allows the Jester in once more. BUT WHAT’S THIS?! Somehow, Mark misses a black off its spot – in fairness, he was closer to the side rail than ideal – leaving Luca a simple starter. This is exactly what he needed, a proper chance rather than the kind of long pot you see off when everything’s going for you, and he quickly breaks the pack visibly growing in front of our eyes. Go on Luca!
Selby 15-16 Brecel Mark Selby is an unbelievable competitor, but to deliver your skills at moments of high pressure, you’ve got to have them to begin with, and just as we often forget Judd Trump has phenomenal mental strength because of his flair, we can also ignore how good Mark Selby is because of how tough he is. That’s five in a row for him, and Luca needs to take some deep breaths. Naturally, Mark leaves the arena so he’s alone with his thoughts and, make no mistake, there’s no one in the world more alone than Luca Brecel is now.
Selby 14-16 Brecel (58-0) Chale! Luca tries ending one long to the yellow, misses by aeons, and Mark now has a chance to close the gap to one. Everything is going his way, and the fear for Luca now is that his game has deserted him; his coupon and body language certainly suggest he’s of that opinion.
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Selby 14-16 Brecel (43-0) He couldn’t have left it any later, but this final now looks like what lots of people – me included – assumed it would, Luca taking frames in streaks with breaks, but Mark taking more of them in every way that exists. As I type that, though, he digs into the pack off the blue and winds up on nowt, so it’s a safety and onto black cush to ensure Luca has no long red available.
Selby 14-16 Brecel (22-0) What’s that coming over the hill, is it a monster? I’m afraid it is, Luca old mate, and Mark fluking a starter highlights the momentum shift of these last few frames. He’s soon into the pack, liberating a few reds and with black available to both corners. This game; this game.
“Sorry but hands-down the best sound in sport is the click of screw-in studs on concrete before they hit the turf,” reckons Neil Stockwell. Followed closely by the purr of bike, chain and rubber on tarmac. And lest we forget that not everything need to be subtle, perhaps the screech of trial bike engines across open countryside.”
I’ll definitely allow the studs, though that’s also about anticipation of a match rather than the sound itself. Here’s another too: the fizz of a cricket ball as it left Shane Warne’s hand.
Selby 14-16 Brecel Luca can feel the chance of a lifetime slipping away from him; the interval was always going to be important and he’s not potted a ball since losing the three frames the preceded it. Mark, on the other hand, is in his element. He knows he knows what to do.
Selby 13-16 Brecel (61-0) In comms, Stephen, praising Mark’s bottle notes that you’ve either got it or you’ve not, and I wonder if that’s true. There are loads of sportsfolk who knew instinctively how to handle the big moments but there are also loads who learnt. Anyroad up, Mark slides off a red to right corner and dare he attempt a cut on the black to right corner? I doubt it, and he uses the rest to find baulk, but not the baulk rail. Will Luca go at a long one, or just give Stephen the opportunity to say “fraught with danger”? Whenever he does I imagine wild animals, deep pits and hunter’s traps, but there’s nothing in Luca’s way – he just can’t even find the jaws at the moment, missing by a fortnight, and this is a chance for Mark to close to within two!
Selby 13-16 Brecel (23-0) Mark inadvertently dangles a tempter, again Luca takes it on, and this time he catches it too thick(ly). The clink wasn’t right there, but it dings the treble when Mark oozes a starter to right corner, then after leaving the white short on the black, coaxes a cut down left that has him back in prime position. He will, though, soon need to dig into the pack; if that goes well, he’ll have a shot at taking the frame here and now…
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Selby 13-16 Brecel Mark will like this start to frame 30, playing in and out of the cluster as Luca looks to open them and get things moving. Quickly, they agree a re-rack, and the tensionometer amps up a few more degrees. Ordinarily, Luca might’ve tried something, but with the world title close, he’s not about to risk a frame unless there’s very goods reason so to do.
“Listened to Billy Bragg while walking the dogs this morning,” says Gregory Phillips, “and it occurred to me that a line from ‘A Lover Sings’ could apply to snooker as much as football: “There is no real substitute for a ball struck squarely and firmly.”
Striking a ball squarely is an interesting image, which I guess works with laces but less so with a rounded cue-tip.
Right people, snuggle in. HERE WE GO.
“The one thing commentators should stop saying,” reckons Roger Kirkby, “is … ‘he should be tight on the balk cushion’. That saying has put me into therapy more times than I can remember.”
If it’s true it’s true!
“I was just thinking,” emails Ewan McDonald, “the clink of the snooker balls is up there with leather on willow as the greatest sound in sport. Are you with me?”
Absolutely. leather on willow has its strengths, but ball on ball is more melodic – and I should say that leather on bone also has something about it.
“Selby may be the Jester from Leicester,” says Andrew Goudie, “but Willie Thorne will always be the Uncle Fester from Leicester to me.”
The best player in practice, legend has it, and a top, top bloke, everyone who knew him has it.
And also there for youse:
Our players will be back with us in 15 minutes. Here’s a little bit with something on Jimmy white to accompany your interval:
Selby 13-16 Brecel Mark thrashes in a blue and removes the penultimate red, plays a lovely delicate shove across the table to bin the last, and one of the greatest competitors in all sport is doing what he does. He leaves the arena with a 122, the pink driven along the side rail with the rest and black clobbered home. I am in awe of and love Mark Selby; I am in awe of and love Luca Brecel. Do we got ourselves a ball-game?!
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Selby 12-16 Brecel (57-0) “He’ll have targeted a 3-1 mini-session”, because it’s only snooker world champions who understand the vagaries of counting. Well Mark’s almost there, and we’re set for the conclusion that we and this tournament richly deserve. Luca’s not made more than a 30 since the first frame of the evening, and he’ll be wondering.
Selby 12-16 Brecel (37-0) Mark Selby! He splats the pack sending claret all over, playing himself into form as we speak. “He knows how to cope with those emotions,” says Shaun Murphy, suggesting Luca’s people write their interval pep talk now. Their man doesn’t look happy, but he’ll have known that no man, however inspired, is rinsing a world title off this man with a mini-sesh still to play.
Selby 12-16 Brecel (15-0) Expletive now then! Mark absolutely smokes a long red to right corner, returns to the business end off the green, and though he overruns slightly, is soon in prime position, black available to both corners. Over his shoulder as he gets down on the shot, Luca looks pensive.
Selby 12-16 Brecel Yes Mark Selby! He has phenomenal stones, Scylla and Charybdis in the trouser, and I’m in awe of him.
Selby 11-16 Brecel (44-36) Mark gets a decent angle to send blue to middle and get back down for the blue … he needs an angle, and runs just past straight. He slides the blue into the green, now pink to left corner for the frame…
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Selby 11-16 Brecel (32-36) Mark leaves one to right corner and of course Luca takes it on. But he misses and suddenly this should be 12-16. It’s not an easy clear-up though, so Mark has work to do, getting to yellow off pink, but with blue ands green close together low in baulk. Brown to blue to pink will be the key shots…
Selby 11-16 Brecel (20-36) Eeesh, Mark misses a cut, leaving it in the jaws, but Luca can’t parlay the opportunity into a run and with two reds left, the chase is on for the next ball – which might well decide who wins the frame and whether we have a match to enjoy tonight. Come on Mark, but also, come on Luca.
“Played my first frames on a full-size table since the smoking ban yesterday!” says Patrick O’Brien. “There aren’t many sports where it’s more fun to watch than play, boxing maybe… Can’t remember which tournament it was last year but I saw two very odd things that happened on the first day, the white actually went in after John Virgo did his ‘where’s the cue ball going?’ and there was a 147 in the opening frame (might’ve been Selby as it happens)!”
I spent hours inRon Gross’ Neasden snooker club from 1995-98. It was the early days of mobiles and none of us had, so our parents couldn’t get hold of us, it was open 24/7 so we could say we were there even if we weren’t, they sold Kit Kays from the fridge and, and as you say, they allowed smoking. Glorious.
Selby 11-16 Brecel (16-29) Yes Mark! He spanks in a long starter … but ends up stuck to the blue, so has to play safe; the run of the balls and/or the snooker gods are favouring Luca at the moment. Luca misses his red of choice twice, gets everything safe … and then Mark flukes the double! Have the gods changed allegiance? Er not quite: Mark’s on nothing, and curiously opts to liberate brown and black rather than lay a snooker behind the green, when he doesn’t need everything that’s left. No matter: he takes on a clip to left corner knowing that if he misses he’s hitting something that’ll keep the white down the business end … and he drains it beautifully!
Selby 11-16 Brecel (3-29) Throughout this tournament and particularly in his last three matches, Luca has conjured frame-winning opportunities out of uninviting tables, but he runs out of position this time and has to play safe, allowing Mark a cut to left corner. But the white skips sideways off the jaw, almost landing in right corner, meaning a safety off the yellow and end of break. This is exactly the kind of frame I expected him to win enough of to win this match, but Luca has done brilliantly to stop them happening and also to stop that happening when they’ve happened. If he takes this one, it’s almost curtains.
“Brecel comes from Belgium,” says Max Harrison, “a country with a cue-sport tradition that’s steeped in pocketless carom tables, but carom’s loss is snooker’s gain. And as Stephen Hendry said, three-cushion carom is far too difficult anyway (my best run is four).”
Selby 11-16 Brecel (2-21) And this time he does, steering a starter to right corner and holding for the black. But, well, I don’t even know how to tell you this, but he hits it harder than he needs to, into the near jaw of left corner, and at that pace it’s never dropping – though the bags have been pretty receptive this championship. Can Luca punish?
Selby 11-16 Brecel (1-16) Go on Mark! He pastes it into right corner and finishes up nuzzling in behind the blue, which is to say even if he’d missed that, great shot. So he feathers the blue and there are no easy reds to hit; no matter, Luca plays off both sides, hits his target ball, and leaves the white on black cush. That is a brilliant escape, and reminds us that though he often relies on his eye and power, he’s also got a ridiculous brain and touch. I’m certain how well both are working will be disconcerting Mark, who’ll have planned to win this match in the safety exchanges.
Selby 11-16 Brecel (0-16) But now he’s made an error; he hits the blue off the break; yes, you read that right, Mark Selby hits the blue off the break! At the moment the four-time champ looks more nervous than the man with just three ranking titles who, three weeks ago, had never won a match at this venue, and Luca is quickly into the pack. But he soon runs out of position, playing safe, and can Mark take the long starter he’s been offered? In normal circumstances, you’d back him…
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Selby 11-16 Brecel “You always feel if your opponent needs two, you’ve a chance” has already been said about 73 times since Luca won the last frame – as the knowledgeable audience that you are, feel free to send in your favourite snooker cliches – and Luca still needs two. He won’t be nervous yet, Mark needs another couple for that – at least – but he’s made a start.
Selby 10-16 Brecel (45-15) Mark pots a nice brown and slides up the table with the black now available. He’ll still have to break the cluster of four to clinch the frame at this visit … and there it goes, to decent effect. This’ll be one back.
“Hi from Naples,” says Colum Fordham, “where snooker is not the priority sportswise, particularly at the moment. After a long break (sorry) from snooker (memories of Jimmy White and Alex Higgins), I have finally been enticed back to watching it again, as of yesterday evening. And Selby and Brecel are putting on quite a show. It would be great for the sport if Luca Brecel won. A really exciting player to watch. Not that Mark Selby is a slouch. A stunning maximum yesterday. Will be glued to the set to see the outcome.”
There is perhaps nothing in life as reliably glorious as the World Snooker Championships. I strongly recommend sticking with it, because there are so many moments of drama, good lads, great characters and ludicrous skill.
Selby 10-16 Brecel (20-15) Luca gets in again, this time via delicate cut-back – he’s not just a ball-striker, combining the power of a strongman with the touch of a kama sutra master – but misses the blue, almost fluking it into the middle. Mark’s gizzard must’ve been down the back of his throat there, but he quickly rights himself, gets away, breaks the pack, and he’s one one. However, reds have blocked off both pink and black, so this will be a deeply stressful visit.
Selby 10-16 Brecel (0-14) Shut up! Shut! Up! Luca has only played a cross-double – as a shot to nothing – that he sinks – that gets him on the black! From there, he can’t get to the next red, but the statement is a bald one: he’s still buzzing, and he’s still loving it.
“Another curiosity yielded by this particular blend of finalists,” returns Gregory Phillips. “We could be done in half an hour, or it could take all night.”
Yup, although that can be tricky against someone like Luca, who attacks relentlessly rather than against someone like Mark Allen, who doesn’t mind getting involved in protracted tactical stuff.
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Selby 10-16 Brecel (0-6) Luca Brecel, you are an absolute joke! Left on the knuckle of right corner, he has a look then caresses a starter to middle just like that. But after a blue, the first sign of nerves? He decelerates through the next ball, jawsing it, before Mark tries sending one long to the green and missing by a way. He won’t mind, though, as he’s not on the pink for which he played so we’ve what feels like a rarity today: a safety exchange.
Selby 10-16 Brecel Luca is two away, and I can taste his confidence through my screen. He may not, of course, but he knows for absolute certain he’s going to win and real talk, so does Mark, he’s just pretending he doesn’t.
Selby 10-15 Brecel (8-67) Here we go then. A black to left corner, a friendly cannon, and it’s 16-10. Down goes the black … and he’s on one to left-middle. Gently, he cuts it into the bag, and though he only gets a slight flick on the cluster off the green, when he plays safe, Mark returns to the table 67 behind with 59 left. He won’t be giving this up, sending a lush starter into left corner and nuzzling in behind the black to send a second screamer along the rail and into the same hole, but he also knows what’s what and that he’s playing a superstar who thinks he’s eaten a golden star.
Selby 10-15 Brecel (0-47) Luca isn’t one of those players like, say, Mark Allen, who I’ve always been certain would win one of these at some point. I just wasn’t sure he had the game – could he take frames when not on a buzz, hang in the tactical battles, stay focused – over the stretch, especially against players who pot as well as he does? But here we are, him taking red-blues because pink and black are tired up before circumstance forces a broon to the yellow. He spends a while sizing it up, loosely cuts it home, and brings the white off the side and up the table! Another beautiful shot, and soon the black goes to both corners! There’s work still to do – he can’t win the frame with just the loose reds – but there’s no reason at all to think he won’t do whatever needs doing.
Selby 10-15 Brecel (0-13) The atmosphere in the Cruce is crackling as Luca plays an attacking safety, opening the cluster, before creaming a cut right into the heart of left corner. I hate to say this, but you get the feeling he knows he’s got this; with everything that’s happened to him these last two weeks – taking a final frame decider against Ricky Walden, hanging on against Mark J Williams, screeching back against Ronnie O’Sullivan and Si Jiiahui – he does’t think he can be beaten. He might be right.
I wonder how Luca’s feeling now. He’s intimated very little in the way of nerves through this competition, playing his game no matter what, but never before has he been in this situation. And as he comes out of House of Pain’s Jump Around – a great choice and one he shares with another natural maverick, darts’ Gary Anderson – he looks like he was born for this moment. He hugs the ref, Brendan Moore, officiating in his final match, then Selbz follows, the shake hands, share smiles and we’re good to go! I will not be responsible for my sweaty eyeballs whichever of these legends is lifting the silver lady come the end of the evening.
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“Further to your comments as to what to wear to play snooker,” says Roger Kirkby, there’s a Guardian article called Memory Lane: the golden age of snooker - in pictures. Can you see yourself in the kit Alex Higgins is wearing in the first photo?”
It’s a belter.
“Greetings from the Greek mainland,” says Gefluester Vogel, “where we’re two hours ahead of Sheffield mean time, therefore guaranteed some late night action just as snooker should be! Have been a huge fan of Luca since watching him in Berlin some years back, beating Wilson K in the semi. Snooker is all about the feelgood, something so preposterously difficult yet so equally trivial, it transcends just about everything – whoever controls this cosmic nonsense, please grant us a Belgian winner tonight. Stin Yeia Mas!”
Yup, once you’ve seen him play like Luca it’s impossible not to be a fan of Luca. I wondered if he’d made the jump to realising his talent when he won last year’s Scottish Open, but it turned out he’d just had a good week. That said, I’m sure he looks back at that as an important staging post, and the challenge now, as well as seeing this out, is to become a consistent feature in the closing stages of events.
Hello again, and welcome to the cusp of history. Sometime this evening, either Luca Brecel will become the first player from mainland Europe to become snooker’s champion of the world, or Mark Selby will lift the title to sit alone above John Higgins and below Steve Davis as a five-time winner. Here we go!
Brecel hits four centuries to close on first title
Luca Brecel rendered Mark Selby’s maximum a distant memory as he fired four centuries to fashion a 15-10 lead after a high-quality penultimate session of their World Snooker Championship final at the Crucible.
Looking utterly undaunted by the biggest occasion of his career, the 28-year-old Belgian moved just three frames away from becoming the first winner of the title from mainland Europe, and the first overseas winner since Neil Robertson in 2010.
Selby had entered the session on a high after Sunday evening’s stunning 147 but it was Brecel who rose to the occasion, blasting three of those hundred breaks in the first four frames as he turned his 9-8 overnight lead into a 13-8 advantage.
The four-time champion looked out of sorts, but no-one would have expected anything less than one of his trademark stirring fightbacks. Just as he dredged his way back to win previous finals over Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, Selby launched his assault straight after the interval.
Selby also took what felt like a pivotal 23rd frame, as he clawed back from 41 points behind and got the better of a lengthy safety battle on the last red to reduce the deficit once again to 13-10. But if there ever was a sign that Brecel was unfazed it came in the next frame when the Belgian built on a brilliant opening red to serve up his fourth century of the session, a nerveless 119.
For all his centuries, it was arguably Brecel’s brilliant clearance to pink in the final frame of the session that was most impressive, as he wiped out Selby’s 40-point lead to move three frames away from claiming his maiden crown. PA Media
So, join me again at 6.45pm BST for the staggering denouement – either Luca blazes to a debut world title and the sporting world has a new star, or Mark cements his status as one of the greats with a fifth world title, seized from behind with characteristic courage. But until then, peace out.
Brecel leads Selby 15-10
What a session that was from Luca. I mentioned earlier that against Ronnie, he was helped by an opponent suddenly losing it, but Mark only missed a few balls here and there; he was just mercilessly punished by an opponent unperturbed by who he’s playing and where they’re playing. He’s seen a moment and decided it belongs to him.
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Selby 10-15 Brecel That frame might just’ve settled the match, and what a break that was from Luca. His ability to think under pressure, while maintaining the natural ball-striking and cue-power that makes him special and different, is frankly poorly, and Mark will have to go some to win from here. Luca is a joke.
Selby 10-14 Brecel (40-49) HE CAN! OF COURSE HE CAN! This is another fantastic run, the tricky pink follows along the rail, AND LUCA BRECEL IS THREE FRAMES AWAY FROM THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!
Selby 10-14 Brecel (40-45) Now then. Mark escapes, accidentally covering the pot to right-middle … cue more head-shaking from Luca, who smokes in a beauty to the green bag instead, landing on the black. Down that goes, then a delicate little swerve eliminates the penultimate red, and this is looking a lot like another for Luca, who gets himself onto the blue off the last meaning he won’t need the pink, stuck on the side. A tremendous yellow follows, diagonally, mid-distance into the green bag – the purity of that strike! –and if he can now get from green to brown avoiding the black, he’s going to go five in front to complete a 6-2 session!
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Selby 10-14 Brecel (40-20) With the black out of commission, on the top rail not far from left corner, Luca has to take greens meaning he needs to pot more balls to secure the frame. Off the blue, though, he doesn’t get the cannon he needs to separate two of the three remaining reds, so instead brings the other one up the table, fails to get the white safe, and Mark now has a potential starter to right corner that might just secure him the frame. Again, though, he misses a long pot – this is the worst I’ve seen him in that aspect at this tournament – getting lucky to leave nothing, so Luca shakes his head then lays a snooker behind the green.
Selby 10-14 Brecel (40-6) Mark hasn’t played well this afternoon, but as he loves to say, you can’t play well in every session, and there are few who’ve played the game as adept at averting potential disaster. Again, he loses the white, but instead of panicking he brandishes the rest and drives home the next ball. Bit by bit, he’s closing in on the most important frame of the match so far and then as I type that, he misses a red to right corner with the rest! So Luca prods home and has the angle to bring the five remaining clustered balls into play! He has one to middle, though the pink is now safe, and this is so, so tense!
Selby 10-14 Brecel (29-1) Is Luca doing this on purpose? Again, he leaves a longun to right corner off the break … but this time Mark creams it into the hole! However, taking on a yellow to right-centre and having to do so at pace having lost the white, he sees it jump out of the jaws … only for Luca to soon miss his first black, losing concentration! Ye cannae do that against Mark Selby!
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Selby 10-14 Brecel A dazzling run of 119 and Luca, though he’s trying not to smirk, enjoyed the arse out of that. He looked nervous in the last frame but that break was real freak-of-nature stuff, and this last frame is crucial. Luca wins it and he’s nearly home, Mark wins it and we’re in for an evening.
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Selby 10-13 Brecel (0-94) “Have a look at this shot. HAVE A LOOK AT THIS SHOT!” says Dennis as a ridiculous screwed power-pot sinks black and promotes the final red. This is going to be a fourth ton of the session!
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Selby 91013 Brecel (0-60) A tremendous recovery green, potted along the baulk line, white going around the angles to set up the next red, but you can only chase for so long and he soon runs out of position … unless he snaps in behind a red from on top and sends it to right corner! Goodness me what a shot that is! Luca Brecel is rrrrridiculous!
“We’re exactly where we were yesterday,” emails Gregory Phillips. “Luca could finish five up … or one up. I am reminded of Yoda in the Adam and Joe Show in the ‘90s: ‘Too much is the tension. To the lavvy must I go.’”
Heh! I’m in that rare situation in which a quick kill means finishing work early, but I want to still be here typing at 2am.
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Selby 10-13 Brecel (0-41) Mark leaves one to left corner but ball a fair way from the bag; Luca drains it superbly, removes the loose ones and digs into the bunch. He’s so good at that shot, but that brings with it danger: a miss and he’s leaving the world. No matter: a black on which he’s too straight is resolved via deep screw that allows him the next red, and this frame like so many before it, is disappearing at a rate.
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Selby 10-13 Brecel Mark clears to the pink so Luca returns to the table needing a snooker and the two remaining balls; he pots the first by mistake, and this is on a rolling boil now.
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Selby 9-13 Brecel (59-56) Luca attempts a double with safety in mind and gets a decent result, white and red nearly the length of the table apart. Mark foul-misses his first thin contact, then misses again, and now he has to think about things hard, because if he does that again he forfeits the frame. P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E. Yeah, well S-E-L-B-Y. He gets a chunky contact but gets the cover he was after from the blue – that’s a terrific shot - Luca leaves the ball over the yellow bag, and Mark is surely going to close the gap to three! What a critical frame this is – Luca knows he should’ve won it early doors, and suddenly looks morose sat there in his seat.
Selby 9-13 Brecel (54-48) Luca’s done a pretty good job of hanging with Mark in the safety exchanges and he lays a good one, red blocked by black, but still: I didn’t expect Mark to hit the black which he does. He gets the red second go, leaves it … and Luca misses by a fortnight! Both players know how important this frame is and, for the first time in the match, are playing like that.
Selby 9-13 Brecel (54-41) Mark gets in behind the first evil red, pokes it down with the rest, and must now devise the best route to the next. He opts for a straight pink diagonally to right corner, leaving him the option of a double, then instead lays a snooker, which Luca escapes via swerve … and lands that red on the side, brown blocking the direct route to it. So Mark lands on it, leaving a tempter to the yellow … but as we said, Luca has cooled and is missing difficult balls now. This is so tense I can hardly type; meantime, the lads out there have to think clearly then execute delicate skills. I am in awe.
Selby 9-13 Brecel (43-41) Clearing at this visit won’t be easy, with a red near the side rail and another similarly located almost dead opposite, but there are few better at doing the necessary – at wearing the pressure – and as I type that, Mark sends a nice one into left-middle. Snaffling here would wound Luca, but after one more red-colour, the difficult balls will need binning.
Selby 9-13 Brecel (15-41) Indeed, Luca leaves a horrible one to left corner but Mark’s long game has forsaken him this afternoon and then, looking for a thin contact he gets a really thin contact, leaving the white in the middle of nowhere and a red to right corner. Luca, though, has cooled, missing it, and Mark has a starter to left-middle; this almost feels like the match here, can he get it down? YES HE CAN! (just, off the near knuckle). Now, can he pilfer?
Selby 9-13 Brecel (0-41) Luca slams down a black but lands on nowt or at least nowt easy, so tries a cut to left corner – knowing if he misses he’s not leaving anything and if he hits he can roll behind the brown. He misses, so Mark returns to the table earlier than he’ll have feared and plays a decent safety; it won’t be an easy response.
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Selby 9-13 Brecel (0-25) Thing is it’s not quite happening for Mark today. Again, Luca dangles him a tempter off the break, again he misses it, and again Luca returns to the table almost as if it was all a plan he knew would yield him a chance. So he gets away, quickly breaks the pack, and suddenly the black, out of commission, is available to both corners and there are reds all over the show. That, mates, is the long bridge which generates the cue-power behind these shots; I can’t think of anyone who’s played it better apart from perhaps James White.
Selby 9-13 Brecel Luca leaves one, Mark drains it, and he’s on the board for the day. If he can win two of the session’s three remaining frames, he’s in with a chance tonight; if he can win them all, some will have him as favourite.
Selby 8-13 Brecel (72-35) He can, missing the pot by a distance – as he did his last effort, which will be a worry – but the red shoots away into the middle of black cush. So Luca tries a snooker of his own, and as soon as he misses you can see he’ll have one to escape next go. Mark leaves white and red the length of the table apart, yellow, pink and brown between them, and shonuff Luca misses, so is back needing to find something to snaffle the frame. If he can, it’ll be a proper heel to the solar plexus for his opponent.
Selby 8-13 Brecel (68-35) An unwanted kiss leaves Mark a shot to the yellow bag, he misses … and somehow leaves red behind green. This game! Luca escapes but leaves the chance for another snooker; Mark lays it, Luca escapes again, almost flukes the pot … and can Mark snick it into left corner or at least avoid leaving it?
Selby 8-13 Brecel (68-35) Mark misses a couple of long reds to cement the frame, then Luca lands one before missing to right corner. And it’s him in next, with blue and green in decent positions for snookers, and if he can pilfer this one, it really feel like this is only going one way. So he sends the final red around down the table – I’m surprised it’s left in the middle, not in baulk – easing white in between blue and top rail … then Mark, the greatest escapologist in the game, misses! Frame on!
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Selby 8-13 Brecel (68-0) Luca tries one to right corner and misses, leaving Mark a power-clip to left, which he clicks into the hole; a brown then takes him to the snookers-required stage, and when a cannon doesn’t develop the next red, it’s another safety.
Selby 8-13 Brecel (63-0) On 59, Mark gets dead straight on the black trying to get low, and doesn’t seem to have an angle to get onto the next red. So he takes an insurance brown, sitting over the green bag, plays back towards the bottom cushion, and is a good deal of the way towards pulling a frame back.
Selby 8-13 Brecel (38-0) I must admit, I was expecting an epic not a blowout, but Mark must take this mini-sesh 3-1 for the former to be in realistic prospect. He won’t panic, and knows that if he can make Luca play a lot of frames, the form that we’ve seen this afternoon probably won’t sustain – if it does, then we’re talking Judd Trump 2019 levels, his final performance against John Higgins not just the greatest snooker has ever seen but one of the greatest the world has ever seen in any sport. And though Mark misses his first shy at a red, as poor safety from Luca allows him another … but when he goes from black into pack, all he has is a nasty cut to left-centre … caressed into the heart of the pocket! This is great stuff.
We go again…
Selby 8-13 Brecel Luca Brecel! A total clearance of 141, a sweep of the mini-sesh and my friends, we are in the presence of greatness. It’s not often we get to enjoy something as dazzling as this; of an all-time great left sat at the side while a young pretender explodes. You can’t play much better than this, and he’s producing one of the great performances in his first world final, having lost almost all of a big lead; we’re going to remember this forever. See you in 15!
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Selby 8-12 Brecel (0-79) If Mark doesn’t win one soon, this’ll be over. What I think it worth pointing out here is that this isn’t Luca ripping in screamers as is his wont, but what cricket calls “proper cricket shots” and what Baltimore’s major crimes unit calls “good police”. He needs a straight red for four in a row, at there’s another ton there for him too! This is sensational behaviour, a man morphing from talent to player in front of our eyes and in electrifying style. Drink him in, people.
Selby 8-12 Brecel (0-39) Ach, Mark misses another red, and again Luca sets himself up to punish. I remembered the other day that my dad had a woodwork teach who, when he got vexed with someone, would order that they bowed their head in shame, then spanked them across the back of it, with a telephone directory – feel free to send in your comparables – but in the meantime, Luca accumulates, salvaging his break with a lovely pink to right-centre, and he just doesn’t care: he takes attacking options, backs himself, and if they don’t come off backs himself to deal with the consequences. That’s a lesson for life right there.
Selby 8-12 Brecel Luca Brecel is a wonderful snooker player! This has been another glorious clearance, another ton – 101 this time – and he’s only six away from victory! Whatever happens from here, he’s announced himself to the wider world this last week, and what an affirming, inspirational buzz it is to watch him.
Selby 8-11 Brecel (35-76) Righto, Luca has the angle on the pink to get onto that final red but doesn’t really dig in so leaves a double to left-centre … and of course he clouts it in! That’s just the way it’s going for him now, and with the frame secure he’s ton-hunting once more! what a start this is!
Selby 8-11 Brecel (35-44) We’ve not had the usual pyrotechnics from Luca so far today but we’ve had disquieting confidence under pressure. He’s looking every inch a champion, but will need the red that’s near the side rail.
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Selby 8-11 Brecel (35-8) I think I’d go for MC Hammer-style baggy trouser, eight-hole docs, a white shirt hanging out, and a black tie with the thin bit out. which I’ve just realised isn’t far off my school uniform. Anyhow, back on the table, Luca misses his chosen red and leaves Mark a starter; he sees it away, pecks at loose balls, and prepares to cannon the pack. But it doesn’t work well, white ending up in the middle of what’s left of it, and after much deliberation he tentatively attempts an acute one to centre, misses, and that might just be a crucial moment in this match because Luca is now at the table eliminating balls.
Selby 8-11 Brecel (1-0) Between frames, Stephen notes that when Mark played his final safety there, JV said “He needs a good cue-ball … and he’s got one,” only for it not to matter because Luca took on the pot and sunk it anyway. That could be demoralising, except Mark then clunks a gorgeous starter to right corner before, on nowt, tucking in behind the yellow.
Selby 8-11 Brecel Luca misses a pink to left corner but it doesn’t matter, the frame is over. He might’ve begun to wonder overnight, having lost a big lead against perhaps the best match-player in the world, but he’s returned cueing beautifully.
Selby 8-10 Brecel (0-57) Mark pinks white to bottom cushion but Luca isn’t arsed, clipping a long one to right corner, and this looks like another to him. What a start this’d be.
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Selby 8-10 Brecel (0-44) What would you wear if you were a snooker player? I don’t think I could manage that girl guide neck-thing Luca has, nor Si Jiahui’s beige syoot, and definitely not Judd Trump’s shoes or Shaun Murphy’s trouser. Anyhow, Luca flukes a red but having returned to baulk is on nowt so sticks the green safe.
Selby 8-10 Brecel (0-43) Mark steers a long red towards right corner but catches the near jaw and gets close but not close enough; so close he leaves a starter for Luca. Very quickly, and thanks in large part to a delicate black to left corner, he’s properly in the balls. He seems impervious to nervousness at the moment, and if he gets a favourable split when splatting the pack, the frame will be at his mercy. And he goes at it as I type that, hitting the wrong red, the power at which he played the shot offering him difficult options but options nevertheless. So he drains to right-centre, playing with pace because there’s a red nearby that he doesn’t want to leave, but after a brown is half a roll short of position on the next ball. Reprieve for Mark, who’s now stuck on the baulk rail.
Selby 8-10 Brecel A run of 113 and consider the smack well and truly laid down. Luca is into the session and looks totally chill – the word chilled has been retired, the Guardian understands – out there. Two weeks ago, he’d never won a t match at the Cruce.
“It’s 51 years since the last man stepped off the moon and 40 years since the first 147 at the Crucible,” advises Roger Kirkby, “and yet, more men have stepped on the moon than have made a 147 at the home of snooker. That’s how hard it is to accomplish the feat.”
And then there’s Shaun Murphy, in the studio, who’s made a 147, chucked a nine-darter and hit a hole in one.
Selby 8-9 Brecel (24-88) Luca’s technique is so easy, and he eliminates balls until he needs a delicate cut-back black for the frame … sinking it easily into right corner before fluking the final black. A century to accompany the frame looks imminent.
Selby 8-9 Brecel (24-46) Swerving into what’s left of the cluster, Luca doesn’t get much in return, but a red eased to blind left-middle maintains the run and he’s just about top-side of the blue which allows him back up the business end. This looks a lot like 10-8, and is a message to Mark that last night’s comeback hasn’t deterred him.
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Selby 8-9 Brecel (24-16) Mark – yes it’s first-name terms because these are our friends – leaves Luca with a tricky safety shot to play and he can’t get the white safe, leaving claret all over; chance. But have a look! He misses a red to left corner, leaves it near the jaw, and Luca gets himself away then strokes down a tricky black. He needs a good start, and as a red is sent long to the yellow bag, he looks there for it…
A word for Brendan Moore, who’s reffing his final snooker match after 18 years on the tour. A gentleman of the game, and I’m fairly sure he’ll be feeling emotional as this epic accelerates to a close.
The boyz: baized. And off we go!
Email! “Out of interest are you watching on BBC or Eurosport?” asks Darrien Bold. “My wife and I tend to switch between the 2 depending on:
Murphy – not welcome in our house, on or off the table
Hazel – class act and can eat Radzi for breakfast
Angles in the studio is the best around
The Eurosport crowd have at least seen some of the qualifiers play unlike JP and Davis .”
This is a good question. At the moment, I’m on BBC through force of habit, but we’ll see ow we get on. I’ve got to confess Murphy has grown on me in recent times and I really enjoyed him and Kyren Wilson in comms together; love Hazel but think Radzi is sound and improving; agree on Angles.
“If I can just cut out the little mistakes I’ll definitely win,” Luca tells BBC – problem being “little mistakes” is sort of his thing. Balls you can’t believe he can pot, balls you can’t believe he hasn’t potted. I sort of feel like he’s missed his chance, but if he gets a good start this afternoon, you never know.
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In other world championship news, check the elation and despondence here.
The moment Ding Liren became the FIDE World Champion 🥹🏆 pic.twitter.com/FSu9rsVg49
— Chess.com (@chesscom) April 30, 2023
We’re in the Cruce with Hazel who’s such a good broadcaster, and one upon whom I’m certain we can rely to extract tears from both winner and loser at the end.
Ahh man this does my heart good. Look at his little face!
Nothing can stop Mark Selby enjoying that 147 break 😅@WeAreWST | #WorldSnookerChampionship pic.twitter.com/k96tKBodzm
— Eurosport (@eurosport) April 30, 2023
Eurosport call:
Every shot from Mark Selby's 147 in the Crucible final 🔥@WeAreWST | @markjesterselby pic.twitter.com/VOMotf1NP6
— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 1, 2023
"𝑮𝑶 𝑶𝑵 𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑪𝑼𝑺!"@iamradzi,@jimmywhite147 and @AlanMac1990's live reaction to Mark Selby's 147 in the World Championship final 🤩@WeAreWST | #WorldSnookerChampionship pic.twitter.com/1K9FcTLuWl
— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 1, 2023
This is lovely. I love Mark Selby.
The 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙗𝙨 in the Crucible crowd when Mark Selby potted the final black in his 147! 🤩🙌@WeAreWST | #WorldSnookerChampionship pic.twitter.com/9MNN8BQ9Og
— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 1, 2023
Preamble
Growing up in the 80s and 90s, life was simple: Steve Davis was the best at snooker and Eric Bristow was the best at darts, then Stephen Hendry was the best at snooker and Phil Taylor was the best at darts. Which meant that, despite the occasional interloper – your Joe Johnsons and your John Parrotts, your Keith Dellers and your John Lowes – we could absorb into world championships secure in the knowledge that whoever won won because they were the best player in the world. It gave us a sense of enormous well-being.
Now, though, things are very different. Because there are too many players who are too good, the world champion is whoever happens to hit world championship-winning form when it’s world championship time – which brings with it good and bad aspects. The old way gives a sense that what we’re watching really matters in the cosmic scheme of things because by anointing the best, it tells us an important fact about the world, and dominant champions drive interest in sport, people tuning in to see if someone can turn them over. But, on the other hand, because standards nowadays are so uniformly high, the field comprises numerous potential winners which invests every contest with significance and teases the prospect of new champions experiencing the greatest moment of their life or old champions either feart their time was over or that this might be the last time.
Which brings us to Luca Brecel and Mark Selby. I’ll level with you: I didn’t think Luca was ready for this. We’ve known for years that he’s a blazingly unique talent, but I wasn’t convinced he had the B-game to hang with the best over the stretch, or the meticulousness to pot enough of the balls he should. Real talk, I still don’t. But incredibly, Ronnie O’Sullivan – who barely ever misses an easy pot and who almost always makes you play well to beat him – collapsed with the line in sight, playing Luca onto a streak, after which a further streak was good enough, just, to see him by Si Jiahui. So now he sits one last streak away from winning the big one, experiencing a moment he’s waited for all his life and striking a blow for thirsty and easily-distracted geniuses everywhere.
Problem for him is he’s playing Mark, and what a total joy it is to see him at a snooker table, in love with the contest. An obviously top bloke, he overcame difficulties in childhood – his mum abandoned him when he was eight then his dad died of cancer when he was 16 – to become quadruple world champion, but recently took a break from the tour, finally addressing the depression that had dogged him for years. So now, he’s back in a good place, a winner even if he loses here – and he’ll know that, but he sure as hell won’t be thinking it.
All of which is to say none of us have the slightest clue what’s going to happen next. Will Luca take a legacy-founding first title, or can Mark nab a fifth? This is going to be intense.
Overnight score: Brecel 9-8 Selby
Play: 1pm-ish BST
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