Mark Selby and Luca Brecel will complete their battle to win the 2023 World Snooker Championship at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre today, as they continue their finely-poised final.
Selby made history on Sunday evening as he became the first man to make a maximum 147 break in the world final in emotional, jubilant scenes at the Crucible during the second session of the best-of-35 contest. The four-time world champion also used that moment of history to help close his deficit to 9-8 overnight to leave the match tantalisingly poised heading into Monday’s finale.
Selby reached the final by seeing off Mark Allen in a slugfest on Saturday night that didn’t finish until 12.47am, while Brecel pulled off a stunning comeback to knock out China’s Si Jiahui at the semi-final stage. And it was Brecel who started the final quicker, taking a 6-2 lead into Sunday’s session but Selby is known for his gritty determination and he battled back to narrow the gap to just one frame by the close of play.
The 39-year-old has four world titles to his name and could become only the fourth player in the Crucible era to win a fifth, following in the path of Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan. A fifth crown would cement Selby as one of the greats of the game, but standing in his way is the supremely talented Belgian Brecel, who at 28 is starting to find the best form of his career. Brecel despatched the pre-tournament favourite O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals and his confidence looks bullet-proof as he takes on his granite opponent.
Follow all the action from the Crucible Theatre with our live blog, below:
