So there we go: another world championships is in the books. What on earth are we going to do tomorrow? Ta-ra!
Selby raises the trophy from the stem, but with no kiss – perhaps that’s a corona situation – and his daughter joins him on the floor. What a competitor he is and what a player he is too, one of the greatest we’ve ever seen and will ever see. Steve reckons he’ll finish with more than four of these and Hazel notes he’s got nine majors from 12 finals which tells you that when he’s in form, he doesn’t give it away. His family join him for some snaps and this is all very beautiful – come on snooker, come on sport. You absolutely adore to see it.
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Overall that was a disappointing effort. Hazel had him going when she asked about the hard times, but failed to follow in and he quickly relaxed again. Maybe next year.
“I wish you’d come to me first,” he says. “How can I follow that brilliant speech?” He was delighted to have won one, but four is a dream, and he notes how good it is to see Shaun back, praising him as a credit to the game. He had “some really, really dark days” a few years ago, but has fought his way back and thanks Chris Henry, noting that Shaun was the first to bring him in. Last year, he was still pretty fragile but got to within one frame of the final and felt much better this – his goal now is to get back to number one, and with tonight’s cheque he’s within striking distance of Judd Trump.
The question on everyone’s lips: can Hazel make Mark cry? Here we go!
“Unfortunately for me, I’ve known him since he was nine,” says a magnanimous Murphy. “He broke me last night”. He says the overnight lead was too much, and that life on tour, especially for those who don’t live in the UK, has been hard. He thanks all the fans for coming out - “sport’s nothing without the fans,” he surmises, paraphrasing Matt Busby, “you’ve brought me back”. Asked about how much help he gets from Chris Henry, the coach he shares with Mark, he responds with “nothing today,” letting him know he’ll be fired tomorrow. He says he’s gutted to lose but really happy for Mark and proud to have been involved in a great match - that was a lovely interview.
Ah man. Selby is brilliant - he now has more world titles than Spencer and Williams and as many as Higgins, with only O’Sullivan, Davis, Reardon and Hendry above him in the modern era. Given how hard he works and how hard he competes, none of them safe. Well expletive played; well expletive played both men.
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Mark Selby beats Shaun Murphy 18-15! Mark Selby is a four-time world champion!
What a player, what a match, what a competition, what a sport!
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Selby 17-15 Murphy (64-57)
In comms, Stephen says he won’t criticise Shaun’s shot choice because it was on, but wonders if the hesitation cost him and stopped him fully committing. Meanwhile, Mark bags the blue, gets a decentish bounce ... and it’s the pink to go seven in front with seven left! The tension! What a shot, bang into the poicket and around the table ... and her comes the black! He gets down ... he gets up! He chalks ... he gets sown!
Selby 17-15 Murphy (46-57)
Righto, here we go. In Shaun’s box, his sister covers her eyes as he sinks the pink and tries to get behind the red ... falling a little short. It’s not, as previously reported, quite stuck on the cushion either, which makes things harder ... out comes the rest ... he hesitates, and in comms they think he’s changed his mind to play safe ... but no! He takes it on, contacts the cushion too soon, and it’s in the jaws ... again! This expletive game. Mark bounces up like a jack-in-the-box that’s had too much Sunny D, and I think this is over. I think.
Selby 17-15 Murphy (38-50)
It’s in the jaws! Stephen’s surprised he didn’t take an easier ball to middle and fully commit - instead he played what he thought might leave things safe if he missed. Well, he does and he doesn’t, leaving Shaun a chance to close the gap to one. That looks a way away when the white runs near the side, but a lovely cut-back recovery pot keeps the break going ... until a cannon on the brown, following the bagging of the yellow, means it’s over. So it’s a safety that leaves a tempter – on the one hand, Mark’s only 10 percent on the long ones tonight and if he misses it’s 17-16 – other hand, if he sees it away, “it’s the championship”. Except he plays a containing safety, to Jayvee’s surprise – no doubt Mark appreciated the entire crowd laughing when this was duly noted – a sensation compounded when the balls come to rest and he’s left one which Shaun despatches! There’s work to do yet because there’s a red stuck on the side, but in the meantime what might we be about to see! THIS GAME!
Selby 17-15 Murphy (38-0)
We’ve seen some unfathomable comebacks in Crucible finals – Mark’s perpetrated them in two of the three finals he’s won – but not many from so close to the line. Which is to say that if Shaun hauls this one back, we’re watching something that will go down in the annals of the game. But, as I type that, he leaves a starter close to left middle and Mark sees it away, then gets to work; the bottom red of the cluster, which he’s addressing right now, might well be the key shot ... and it works out just about OK, leaving a black that’ll necessarily leave a difficult next ball. “The championship here,” says Stephen in commentary, because if it goes down – long, to the green pocket – he’s on the black. Here - we - go!
Selby 17-15 Murphy
A monstrous run of a hundred and something – my iPlayer cuts out – makes it a second straight ton for Shaun, and we got ourselves a ball-game! How will Mark’s nerves be now?!
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Selby 17-14 Murphy (1-87)
Shaun runs a little lower than he’d have hoped, so has a nasty little cut-back black ... and it’s there! The next red’s a toughie too, but it works its way down, then another cut-back black – with cannon – that takes him 66 ahead with 75 left. This is a colossal effort given the circumstances, it really is – he’s been chasing position for a while now. Another nails red – to the green pocket – makes the frame pretty much safe, and he gets to work removing the easy balls that confirm things.
Selby 17-14 Murphy (1-43)
Hello! A poor cue-ball from Shaun offers Mark a chance at a longish red – you’d expect him bag it, profiting from an opponent’s inferior safety being extremely his thing – but he clatters it into the near knuckle and this is as good a chance as Shaun can have hoped for.
Selby 17-14 Murphy (1-19)
Now then. A rare poor safety from Mark leaves a red sticking out; Jayvee reckons it’s too risky but Shaun disagrees, a lovely cut and a lovely kiss allowing him position on the brown. But after his second red, the angle on the black forces him in and out of baulk ... and he jawses a plant that’s not set. Ach! So Mark sees it away, side cushion first, winds up on nowt, and plays off the other side for the pink only to feather a red first. But he gets it second go and off we go with some safety.
Selby 17-14 Murphy
That’s a tremendous piece of work from Shaun, a break of 100 – the 107th ton of the tournament, improving on what’s already a new record – narrowing the deficit. If he can get the next chance, Mark will start to wonder...
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Selby 17-13 Murphy (7-77)
There we go. Shaun eliminates the aforementioned, and stays alive for another frame at least.
Selby 17-13 Murphy (7-40)
A little run-through red develops the black, and though the reds above it aren’t beautifully spread, there’s plenty to go at at which to go. It’d bea decent microcosm of the match were Shaun to get to around 50, miss, and watch Mark clear up, but four reds and four blacks will do it from here and there are no obvious obstacles in the way.
Selby 17-13 Murphy (7-10)
Between frames, the Nugget notes that Shaun might’ve been 5-1 up after six but wound up 3-3, and when he looks back, if he loses he might fancy he lost it then. That said, he had chances last evening too and couldn’t force them home; anyhow, Mark misses one to middle then Shaun misses it too – even though it looks about to drop now he’s walked away from it. That might be enough to settle this, only for Mark to miss the next red – I don’t think anyone expected that. Can Shaun capitalise?
Selby 17-13 Murphy
Of course we are! That is a blinder of a total clearance, 120 all told, and Mark is one away!
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Selby 16-13 Murphy (75-0)
“When he’s playing this well he’s almost unplayable,” says Hendry in commentary; what an accolade that is. Down goes a nerveless black, then a red, then a blue, the frame over and then some; the only question is whether we’re getting a third ton of the match.
Selby 16-13 Murphy (34-0)
Mark’s played an excellent match so far, because Shaun hasn’t handed him this by any stretch. In particular, he’s punished errors with extreme prejudice – his ability to keep it together under pressure has been the major difference here, which isn’t to say Shaun has crumbled, he hasn’t, just that he hasn’t done it as well.
Selby 16-13 Murphy (19-0)
Mark can do this all night, playing safety from top to bottom. But a really good shot from Shaun, leaving the white tight on the side and near left corner, with the black blocking its route to the cluster, will test him. Two minutes of thinking is what it takes to find a solution, sending one towards baulk and sticking the white behind the black again ... but though Shaun finds an alright response, he leaves one to the middle that, if it goes down, will leave the table ready to be rinsed. Shonuff, that’s what happens, and this is nearly did.
Selby 16-13 Murphy (0-0)
Oh Shaun! Mark misses, then Shaun does too! It wasn’t a gimme or anything like it, but when you’re three behind with six to play, you’re struggling if you can’t see those away. He doesn’t leave it, at least, though with a red up in baulk this is shaping up into the bitty kind of thing Mark relishes.
Right then, here it is...
Today is Barry Hearn’s last day in the job, and he’s done alright hasn’t he? He tells us that this has been the hardest year, noting that every time you think you’ve seen it all, something new happens to amaze you. For my part, I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Bazza’s company, and though it’s fair to say that our politics don’t align, he has a phenomenal charisma that we’ve seen revolutionise not just snooks but darts and boxing too. Thanks, it’s been a trip.
In other news...
Stuart Bingham’s tattoo 👀🏆 #ILoveSnooker pic.twitter.com/duiNcNkoH2
— Live Snooker (@Livesnooker) April 29, 2021
“The standard isn’t stratospheric now,” returns Shaun Lawson. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s very good – but if it was stratospheric, no way in the world would three different players in their mid-40s still be right up there. Ronnie wasn’t wrong in what he said last year about that.
One reason is because the game was in so much trouble in the 2000s – very little money, few tournaments – that a whole generation’s path was blocked off. It’s quite similar in that sense to what happened with darts for a good 10-15 years after the breakaway. Both sports have taken a long time to recover.
Meanwhile: Reardon’s prime was when the cloths and balls were much heavier, there were desperately few tournaments – and he dominated totally, with an iron grip. It’s illogical to treat Steve Davis as unquestionably in the top five all-time but not to do the same with Ray, because the standard wasn’t so much higher in the 80s either. Reardon, Davis, Selby and John Higgins all mostly win/won by feeding off opponents’ mistakes. O’Sullivan and Hendry are in a different category - because they both had many different ways of winning.”
I don’t think that’s a fair appraisal of Higgins, who knows his way around the table but is also a potter. I didn’t see Dracula so I’m not best-placed to rule, but I’m not sure White, Thorburn and Parrott weren’t better than Charlton and all the rest. In addition, Williams was in tremendous form before he encountered Selbz, who also whacked Allen. That’s a pretty decent effort, and his performance in the 2014 final, when he ultimately deconstructed Ronnie, was one of the greats. As for the overall standard, there are more superb players knocking around than ever before.
Selby 16-13 Murphy
Shaun’s problem today is that he started four behind and hasn’t been able to win more than two on the spin – and he’s only done that once. He needs to sort that immediately after the mid-sesh.
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Selby 16-12 Murphy (11-72)
This is excellent from Shaun, carefully and competently removing balls, a tremendous pink giving him a great chance of securing the frame at this visit. The remaining four reds are difficult and the lead 52 with 67 remaining ... and with the rest, he jawses the first of them! It looks like it’s still going down, but at last second realises it’s not Mark who potted it, so bounces back out! Eesh! Mark, though, misses his shy at it, and Shaun sinks a blinder that takes him close. A black follows, then another red with the rest – it tries to stay up but can’t – and that’ll be enough.
Selby 16-12 Murphy (11-21)
Mark takes a long old time seeking a way out of a tricky situation - he’s not snookered, but with reds splayed all over the show, needs to get the white safe ... and finds a route off black cush to hit one on the side. That’s a brilliant shot, not just in execution but in conception – in commentary neither Ken nor Angles spotted it. But his next shot leaves one and here comes Shaun, who surely needs to take this frame – and the next one for that matter. He starts well, and begins clearing routes for the black.
Selby 16-12 Murphy (11-5)
He opts for the latter and a poor shot offers Shaun a shy. He can’t take the long starter, but gets away with it and the exchange continues.
“On the Reardon chat (or indeed the comparison across eras of any sport),” says Andrew Moore, “I think the assumption should be the standard then would be the same as the standard now if you transferred the players across, and vice-versa. All a player can do is dominate the era they are in, so for me that means Reardon, Davis and Hendry remain the best.”
That’s a fair point, but I’m not sure I agree – Jim Courier and four majors and Lleyton Hewitt has two, but only because they played in the interregnum between Edberg/Becker/Lendl and Sampras and Sampras/Agassi and Federer respectively. On top of that, dominating then, when the standard was unarguably lower, and winning four in seven now, when the standard is stratospheric are not equivalent to me. But I might well be wrong on all of the above.
Selby 16-12 Murphy (11-0)
Mark attacks a long and nails red, misses by plenty, and a double-kiss saves him from leaving it. This game. Shaun then misses a baulk-cushion red but at no cost beyond the four away, so we wind up playing safety.
“I’m personally a fan of Selby,” emails Yas K, “and interesting the reversal of fortunes these two ‘friends’ have had. Murphy took his first in title in 2005 and this is his third loss, whereas following defeat in 2007, Selby has been the dominant force since 2014 and will be collecting his fourth in seven years. He’s basically doing what Higgins didn’t.”
Not having a prime O’Sullivan and Williams knocking about has been quite helpful; I guess he did well to find a few once that was no longer the case for any of them.
Back on the table, Shaun foul-misses when trying to tickle a red, then finds a really good shot that leaves Mark a teaser: does he attack a long red, or try and navigate back to baulk?
Selby 16-12 Murphy
You’ve got to laugh (unless you’re Shaun). A black that means the prospect of a ton remains takes its shoes off before going down, then goes down. But the last red doesn’t, so dat guy Selbz makes do with going four in front, and it’s hard to see a comeback from here.
Selby 15-12 Murphy (93-0)
Yup, Mark extends his lead again, and if he wins the final two frames of the mini-sesh, he’s a four-time champ!
Selby 15-12 Murphy (64-0)
We’re not serious yet because the reds are split but not spread – Mark could’ve arranged that earlier, didn’t, and when he does try he slides off a red as predicted by Ken in commentary. So it’s back to balk with a nifty lead for company; Shaun goes hard at a long one, misses off the knuckle, and Mark clips home another that thinks about staying out for quite some time. The bags are with him tonight, and here comes a black that, if the following cannon works, will mean the frame ... and down it goes! Shaun is in all sorts now.
Selby 15-12 Murphy (32-0)
“The six-times world champion, Ray Reardon - whose game Selby’s most closely resembles - would like a word,” emails Shaun Lawson. “He gets forgotten in these discussions and he shouldn’t. Reardon is so great, he’s even the man responsible for turning Ronnie O’Sullivan into a dominant match player! Ronnie would certainly have fewer world titles had it not been for his input.”
I didn’t forget Reardon, who featured prominently in the show I mentioned a few minutes ago, but when picking the best I don’t think we should look at world titles and nothing else. Dracula was the best of his era, but the standard then is very different to the standard now, and his two extra wins – assuming Selbz wins tonight – are not worth more than the calibre of opponent yerman has beaten, not just in finals but through the rounds. Anyway, an error from Shaun lets Mark in, and he quickly drains for red-black. Yes he does!
Selby 15-12 Murphy
And there it is! Again, Shaun closes the gap, and again, he salutes the crowd ... but can he take it on from here?
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Selby 15-11 Murphy (48-61)
Sensational shot! Shaun sticks home the yellow, then runs through to develop the aforementioned green; he drains it, then floats back for the broon! This, the blue, and the frame is his...
Selby 15-11 Murphy (48-53)
There’s a red on the side cushion, not far from the middle pocket, and another on the opposite side, not far from the corner pocket; the remaining two are stuck together, just below the pink. So Shaun plays a controlled cannon into the latter – that’s very nicely done – but playing a cut-back red, he goes in-off into the centre! This absolute game! Mark then has a shy at a long pot as misses – the ref takes a dim view of the shouting this elicits, his ensuing chastisement provoking a self-righteous round of applause from the knowledgeable Crucible audience. Ah man, it’s been a while – I never thought that old chestnut would fill my room with chopped raw onions. Anyhow, after a further miss apiece, Shaun attacks a brute along black cush ... and down it goes! Screwing up the table off the black, he gets a kiss off the green that makes it a harder pot that it would’ve been – should he get that far – but he’s in with a chance that five minutes ago he’d have paid everything for.
Selby 15-11 Murphy (44-16)
If Mark wins tonight, he joins the great John Higgins on four world titles and, as I mentioned earlier, surely enshrines him as the final member of the all-time top five, along with Higgins, Davis, Hendry and O’Sullivan. He’ll be well aware of that, and a poor shot on the black shows the weight of things ... but a terrific redeemer with the rest keeps the break going – though again, the ball does not look in, cracking the far knuckle before deciding to join its mates. But you can only chase for so long, and a further tricky red refuses to force its way down, so here comes Shaun for the biggest visit of this year’s competition. He starts it nicely...
Selby 15-11 Murphy (27-0)
With the white up in baulk, pretty central, Mark clips a red from close to the blue spot into the middle! I’m not sure that was deliberate and the friendly peck he’s handed by the brown certainly wasn’t. But when it’s going for you it’s going for you, and in no time at all he’s into the pack and in the balls; this is a great chance, but as the winning post draws nearer, so does the pressure.
Selby 15-11 Murphy
Shaun’s running out of time now, and he’ll be raging over that pink he missed – especially given the red he sank. If Mark wins another in this mini-sesh, it’ll be the early night that none of us wanted.
Selby 14-11 Murphy (70-28)
OK, Mark sees a chance to sink the difficult red early ... can he roll it down the rail ... yes he can ... no he can’t ... yes he can! It wipes its feet, has a wobble, sits down, and then finally drops. This game!
Selby 14-11 Murphy (47-28)
That nervousness is still there – Mark overruns but sinks the red anyway, then gets low on the blue and still gets position on the next ball. He’s warming up here, but there’s a red in the middle of black cush so Shaun still has a hope – although assuming Mark leaves it till last, it’ll be frame ball, so no need for him to do anything other than sink it.
Selby 14-11 Murphy (18-28)
“That video is genuinely, almost inexplicably emotional,” sympathises Matt Dony. “It doesn’t matter whether you like snooker or not, it doesn’t matter whether you care about the outcome or not; it feels big. It feels like something is happening. Sport is simultaneously nothing more than glorified playground squabbles, and at the same time ludicrously important to huge swathes of society. It means something. It engages the heart and the head. I don’t have a strong opinion on Selby or Murphy, but I am SO EXCITED to see that crowd. Chapeau, everyone involved in making it happen.”
Yes, agree with all of that, and LISTEN TO THAT! Shaun takes on a red that’s in mid-table with the white close to the bottom cushion, fairly spanking it to left corner. The black goes next, then another red, and though he’s a shot or two from prime position, this is as good a chance as he could’ve hoped for. Anyway, back to Matt, everything is meaningless until or unless we invest it with meaning, and we’ve done that to sport – ultimately, it’s an expression of love, freedom and being alive, and we’ve never needed it more. Meantime, Shaun misses a pink to middle and that’s the match right there: a lack of consistency and concentration undermining the blazing pots, and Mark will fancy himself to do something here.
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Selby 14-11 Murphy (4-11)
Now then. Shaun nails a brutal long red, then makes his way back up the table and splatters the pack ... only to go in-off draining the yellow. There’s nothing loose from inside the D, though, so off we go again with some safety; very quickly, the black moves over right corner, so Shaun has to be careful with this next shot; he plays it well, landing on a lonely one on black cush, and Mark eschews a pot for a return to baulk. What a sequel that’d be – and imagine the feeling of delight during the original, when the black and white balls turned to glorious technicolour.
“Watch the paint dry more is exciting once Selby has the table,” says Len Ross, but I can’t be having that. Just a few days ago, he smashed up the great Mark Williams playing beautiful snooker and can pot balls with the best of them, it’s just that the rest of them can’t play tactically with him.
Selby 14-11 Murphy (0-0)
Eesh, bad sign for Shaun who takes on a long red that’s easier than plenty he’s nailed of late and jawses it. But have a look! Mark, who was visibly edgy at the start of this afternoon’s go-around, misses an easier one, then Shaun can’t find the green pocket and we’re back playing safety. While the exchange takes shape, let me point you in the direction of Talking Snooker, now available on iPlayer, which they showed when we finished the previous session early – it’s mainly about Davis and Hendry but also features bare Bazza Hearn and Ian Doyle – and is replete with sensational archive.
And away we go!
I confessed to this earlier, but my eyeballs were in something of a sweat when Rob Walker baized the boyz earlier – he absolutely had it, and so did the CAPACITY CROWD. It was a joyous, beautiful explosion. Burn baby burn – here comes Shaun, bowing then waving, followed by Mark! Come on!
Hope you can hear the noise like we did in the Arena. @robwalkertv take a bow, brilliant 👏👏 #wst #betfred #ILoveSnooker pic.twitter.com/0g35YYmIQv
— Brendan Moore (@brendanmoore147) May 3, 2021
Email! “I was never a fan of Murphy before,” says Gregory Phillips. “I couldn’t forgive him for beating Matthew Stevens in the 2005 final . But his swashbuckling this year has really won me over. That said, Selby simply doesn’t surrender leads in major finals and I fear he will choke the life out of this final session.”
He might, but if tonight is anything like this afternoon, he’s not in good enough nick. And I agree on Murphy, who’s played beautifully this last fortnight. But he too will need to improve if he’s to claw this back – some one-visit frames, rather than falling down and allowing Selbz to clear.
Here’s something to read, by, er, me, on why world championship snooker this thing of ours is like Sopranos.
Right then, this is it. I’d say it’s been a brilliant tournament, which it has, but that’s no different to simply saying that’s happened, because it’s always brilliant. This term, though, it’s been special, partly because we’ve had a crowd in, but partly because the matches have been so close and surprising. So, though the temptation is to assume that Selbz has this covered, Shaun has more than enough to get things flip-turned upside down. I guess if the worst comes to the worst and it ends earlier than we’d like, they can always get Ballrun Bingham back to play a decider. Play the music!
Selby holds onto three-frame lead
Mark Selby moved four frames away from winning his fourth world snooker title after preserving his three-frame lead over Shaun Murphy at the end of the penultimate session of their Crucible final.
Selby repelled a flashy Murphy fightback to clinch the crucial final frame of the session and go 14-11 in front ahead of the conclusion of their best-of-35 battle on Monday evening.
Each player summoned a century but neither displayed their best form in a session in which Selby’s fighting spirit cancelled out Murphy’s flamboyant if somewhat erratic break-building bids.
Resuming 10-7 behind, Murphy had drawn first blood with a promising break of 77 and looked to have won the next, only to leave the black dangling over the middle pocket. A nerveless century break put Selby 12-9 up at the interval, and moved four ahead following a rash missed red from Murphy.
The 2005 champion fought back, a superb 100 bringing him back to 13-10 and a brilliant long red helping him over the line in the next. With the chance to close the gap to a single frame, Murphy played a poor break-off shot and Selby pounced with a 62 to stay in control. PA
End of afternoon session: Selby 14-11 Murphy
A run of 69 secures the frame for Mark, who’s a big favourite to take it from here. Shaun’s plenty good enough to stop him if he can put it together, but it’s asking a ludicrous amount to produce your best form in the final session of the final. Either way, though, we’ve got one hell of a buzz in front of us – join me again at seven if you value anything that’s good in this world.
Selby 13-11 Murphy (83-0)
Mark holds it down to despatch a long one and he’s going to leave the afternoon as he entered it, three frames in front.
Selby 13-11 Murphy (62-0)
“I see you’re blogging in black and white,” emails Andrew Benton. “Can you blog in colour (wasn’t snooker chosen for the first colour broadcast on telly back in the 60s)?”
It was Wimbledon, I think, but no doubt colour telly helped grow the game – the colours are so vivid – though I remember watching some of the 1985 final on a black and white one after being sent to bed. Anyhow, with a red and colour needed to settle the frame, Mark runs out of position and leaves a long, hard one that needs clipping diagonally; Shaun’s pretty good at these, but he can’t force it home, and we’re back playing safety with 75 left on the table.
Selby 13-11 Murphy (48-0)
Mark is one of the most intense competitors in all sport, so it’s no surprise to see him forget the last two frames and start remorselessly compiling. On 40, he drops the white a little short, but a prod with the rest and he’s back on track.
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Selby 13-11 Murphy (14-0)
I didn’t see this, but when Shaun made his ton the frame before last, he paused to thank the crowd for their appreciation. Now, though, he’s sat in his seat because he’s left a red off the break that Mark canes to left corner, and this is a chance because after a sojourn in the baulk he returns to the business end with the black available; down it goes, pack splattered in the process.
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Selby 13-11 Murphy
So that’s the bare minimum for Shaun, a split session at worst. Even if he loses it, we’ve got an absolutely savage evening in prospect, but if he can win it...!
Selby 13-10 Murphy (0-59)
A sensational screw-back yanks Shaun back into prime position but he’s soon faced with a nasty little pink ... seen away via rest. But he can’t find another colour to follow the next red, so the blue goes safe with a snooker behind the brown just missed. Still, it leaves Mark with a difficult shot and all he can do is offer a tempter, caressed from middle to left corner. That’s an absolute jazzer, and it surely means the frame. We’re rolling!
Dennis Taylor on commentary there for the close-up of the trophy reminded me of this gem from 2013. 🤣🏆 pic.twitter.com/DJVmAQY1Yh
— Shane Hannon (@ShaneHannon01) May 3, 2021
Selby 13-10 Murphy (0-35)
Now then. Mark misses his first go at clipping a red and because he lands behind the brown – it’s on the baulk line, close to the side cushion – snookering Shaun, Shaun has a free ball. He has a think about the pot but it’s difficult and if it misses it might mean the frame, so sensibly invites Mark to play from there. With few options, he winds up splitting a cluster under the pink, and when Shaun drains a gorgeous opener, he’s set to win a second straight.
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Selby 13-10 Murphy (0-18)
Granted, I’m an emotionally incontinent type, but the sound and sight of a full crowd – never mind one this “knowledgeable” – is extremely moving. What I’m saying, I guess, is that live sport is the greatest thing in the world, an expression of love and joy, of which there’s yet more when Shaun monsters in a starter. He can’t parlay it into more, but another of similar beauty hauls him back in ... until he overruns, missing a gap between two reds that would’ve put him on the pink. As such, Mark is not contemplating life from tight to the baulk cushion.
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Selby 13-10 Murphy
The crowd go wild when Shaun rams home a pink to complete his first ton of the match, and here we go again! Can Shaun finally close the gap?
Selby 13-9 Murphy (1-74)
This is excellent from Shaun. The balls are nice but the pressure is barbaric, and he eliminates both beautifully.
Selby 13-9 Murphy (1-12)
Oh dear, oh dear. Shaun breaks and leaves a red near the blue – down it goes – but then Mark misses green to middle, and Shaun, who necessarily goes into the pack off his opener, is away! If ever he needed a one-visit win, he needs it the now.
Selby 13-9 Murphy
A second half-century gives Mark the frame, and Shaun will feel this slipping away. He might revise his strategy of going for absolutely everything and just go for everything, because that long red he missed just now was a bit much. He can afford a 2-2 in the mini-sesh, just, but anything more and it’s five to over.
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Selby 12-9 Murphy (62-14)
A terrific safety from Shaun elicits an error from Mark, but rather than play another telling shot back to baulk, he tries a long pot to the green pocket and misses by fortnight. The ball in question pulls up nicely for the middle, Mark drains it, and this is going to be 13-9.
Selby 12-9 Murphy (54-14)
This is a lower-key affair than any of the previous four frames we’ve seen today, but it’s an important one. Mark rides a kick on 41, still good for position on the blue ... except he runs out of position shortly afterwards, taking more than two minutes – punctuated by some punitive banging of head with palm – to play a gentle prod. On which point, Shaun’s been punished plenty for failing to close out frames – after doing similar Wilson in the semi – and it’s imperative he make Mark suffer having been given the chance.
Selby 12-9 Murphy (25-14)
Mark quickly gets the black back on its spot and this reeks of 13-9.
Hope you can hear the noise like we did in the Arena. @robwalkertv take a bow, brilliant 👏👏 #wst #betfred #ILoveSnooker pic.twitter.com/0g35YYmIQv
— Brendan Moore (@brendanmoore147) May 3, 2021
Selby 12-9 Murphy (7-14)
Mark takes on a speculative red, clipped with safety in mind; it stays up in baulk, but because he gets a good cue-ball, it’s tough for Shaun to do much. He has a shy and misses, getting lucky by covering it with the green, so Mark goes after a different starter and jawses it! It’s getting tense out there, all the more so when Shaun tries a tight one into the green pocket, getting lucky again by covering it with the actual green when he misses. Goodness me. So here goes Mark again with another longun, not unlike the one he rattled last time ... and this time it goes down! The black is close to the top cushion but the pink is raring to go, making this a good chance.
Selby 12-9 Murphy (0-14)
Shaun misses a difficult red, but where’s the cue-ball going? Tight to the side cushion, but leaving an equally difficult one on, a shorter-range version of the miracle pot from earlier. This time, Mark misses it, and we’re back playing safety, Shaun floating white up to baulk.
Selby 12-9 Murphy (0-14)
Off we go again! During the mid-sesh, we watched a live interview with Shaun’s wife, during which she noted that her husband’s missed the crowds, because “He’s the biggest show-off I’ve ever met.” And aren’t our lives richer for it! Also worth noting is that Selby’s disgraceful red from the third frame of the day made it into the BBC’s shot of the championship selection – well played, whoever’s in charge of that – but back in the now, Shaun murders down a starter before missing the black. He’s not left anything but that’s the story of the match so far, opportunities not milked for maximum worth.
But before I scavenge for lunch, we’re in the business of spreading joy here, so: Musa Okwonga’s book, One of Them, achieves the difficult feat of being an easy read – it’s propulsive and entertaining – and a difficult read – it teaches you things about the world and about yourself that are upsetting. Find out more:
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Selby 12-9 Murphy
Shaun is running out of time; if he can’t win the next mini-sesh, he’s in all sorts. He’s played the better snooker this afternoon, but a few crucial misses and lapses have let Mark off the hook, and a run of 107 underlines the point. See you in 15 minutes for more.
Selby 11-9 Murphy (77-0)
Mark extends his lead with the blue and will only need one of the aforementioned difficult reds. But he pokes home another to make sure, and we’re as you were – but will we see the first ton of the final?
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Selby 11-9 Murphy (41-0)
The camera gives us a proper once-over of the pot they’re playing for, so Angles asks Judd what he did when it was his; “I’d come down to watch TV and sit looking at the trophy for an hour instead,” he answers. Great stuff. Back on the table, Mark finds a plant in the pack and if he can parlay it into a chance he’ll be well pleased – leave the mini-sesh with his lead intact but the winning post nearer would be a major advancement of his position. For a moment, that looks less likely, because he can’t get on a red following a black, except Shaun’s response is poor, a rushed go for a stray that misses and puts Mark back in. There are a lot of reds below the black blocking each other, but you’d expect this to be the frame.
Selby 11-9 Murphy (4-0)
Now it’s Mark given some me-time, Shaun clenching fist as has become his wont and taking a moment. This next frame, the last of the mini-sesh, is colossal ... and Mark opens it with a terrific diagonal red. But he can only add a green, and we’re back playing safety.
Selby 11-9 Murphy
“Snooker couture!” hollers Angles McManus when Shaun punishes home the broon, and this is brilliant. Anyone not watching deserves your pity and shunning.
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Selby 11-8 Murphy (41-64)
It’s important to note what a year this has been for Shaun. Having moved to Dublin, he’s had to quarantine every time he’s been home, which has meant no practising – he’d been doing that with Fergal O’Brien, which might explain his improved safety – and the knock-on effect on his form was clear. But he’s found some form now, and with the pink on the cushion it’ll take something significant to stop him re-closing the gap.
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Selby 11-8 Murphy (37-64)
You can’t beat the Cruce for drama, you really really can’t – we’ve already had a skinful today and it’s only the third frame. Shaun clears to the brown, which he leaves near the green pocket, and Mark returns with three snookers required.
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Selby 11-8 Murphy (37-52)
Oh my days! Mark surveys the scene, then clips home a red that doesn’t even look on! The white is near the yellow pocket and the red is wider, down the other end, but he sends it down a heartbreaking pot of staggering genius before revealing a t-shirt that reads “ARE YOU WATCHING SEAN TAPODI? This would be a punishing steal – Shaun eyed up a long blue before his previous safety before deciding to be sensible – Judd agreed with the decision – and now look! Aaaaarggghhhh! Mark misses a cut-back black off its spot, leaves the last red, and Shaun drains it! This game!
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Selby 11-8 Murphy (0-51)
And he doesn’t! Mark leaves him a long one, he sees it away, and rolls in snug behind the broon off the pink, which is now on the side cushion. With the green close by, it’ll be harder for Mark to tax this, but there are more than enough reds to make it doable – though, for the same reason, there’s no obvious one to target with his escape. Judd’s technical expertise suggests he close his eyes, hit and hope, but Selbz isn’t that kind of fella, so off he goes to get the extension and the spider ... in order to miscue! Back in he goes – “good luck, mate” – and he miscues again, the tip slipping on the white because he’s able to see so little of it. I doubt he’ll try this one again and he doesn’t, attempting the two-cushion escape and missing again. He connects with his second go, but leaves a fine, short-range cut to right corner. Down it goes, except position isn’t forthcoming so a safety offers Mark another difficult shot.
Selby 11-8 Murphy (0-37)
Judd notes that Shaun is so confident in his potting ability that he doesn’t mind taking on difficult balls to ensure he’s got a shot at something afterwards. In general, the strategy is sound, but against Mark it’s extremely dangerous; can he make it count? Well, not for now, running out of position and playing safe; he cannot afford to lose this next exchange.
Selby 11-8 Murphy (0-29)
“Watching Selby makes me want to tear my eyes out so playing him must be a nightmare,” emails Sean Tapodi. “Right now I can’t handle such a negative player being compared to the Big Four. I get that styles make matchups and he’s great at digging out those tough frames (as I’m witnessing right now), but are there any stats that show a bit more flair?”
Selbz was an eight-ball champ so be sure that he’s got plenty of that. You don’t get to where he is by playing like Cliff Thorburn – he can out-pot almost anyone, just ask Mark Allen and Mark Williams – he’s just the best at the tactical stuff, and watching him impose it is a monumental buzz. The best example is him beating O’Sullivan in the 2014 final, but there are plenty of others.
Anyhow, back on the table, Shaun despatches a red that has Judd rhapsodising the cueing and timing required for such behaviour, but the way the reds are spread means there’s plenty of work required to convert this into a chance.
Selby 11-8 Murphy
Yes he can! That is going to sting Shaun and to make sure he extracts maximum value from the shtech, Mark leaves him alone with his thoughts, nipping out for a lag. Shaun can’t be losing many more like that.
Selby 10-8 Murphy (62-58)
With little in the way of safety options, Shaun tries a double into the middle and gets pretty close, knowing that if he misses, he’s unlikely to leave it. Mark, playing his own safety, then gets a double kiss! Mark Selby double-kissed! Oh my days! Shaun then rolls it home and sends the black towards the middle ... but at the last second it veers into the knuckle! This game! Can Mark cut it in?
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Selby 10-8 Murphy (62-52)
Now then. A poor shot from Mark gives Shaun a chance – the blue’s close to the baulk cushion – and he’s got it! The white goes behind the black and Mark misses his escape! NOW THEN! He has Mark play again, then takes on a pot to the yellow pocket – it’s a brute – missing it there and left corner ... but it runs safe. AND HAVE A LOOK! Next go, he flukes it into the centre! He’s not on the pink so there’s plenty to do yet, but a frame that looked did is right back in the balance.
Selby 10-8 Murphy (62-42)
Yellow to green and green to brown will be the key shots, the yellow close to the bottom cushion and the brown between green and bottom cushion. Mark takes them well, and restates his position: if you don’t clear them all, you’re finished. He then runs out of position so plays safe off the blue, so Shaun returns to the table needing a snooker.
Selby 10-8 Murphy (30-42)
Shaun’s riposte is poor, leaving the white between blue and green, an error that could well cost him the frame – Selbz has made a career out of clearing up from here, and that’s what he’s doing.
Selby 10-8 Murphy (21-42)
Hello! Mark downs a decent red and follows it with a decenter blue; this is his first chance at the hand:table interface, and he’ll need to make it count. He didn’t shut Shaun out last night, Shaun couldn’t make his chances count, and a steal here would underline the way this match is going. But a misjudged run-through offers a reprieve and Mark opts not to address a difficult pot, instead sending the white up to baulk.
Selby 10-8 Murphy (0-42)
Mark takes on a long red but with safety in mind, which is different to safety in reality, and he dangles a tempter. Shaun will have at this because it’s precisely the sort of pot he’s been banging home and precisely the sort of shot he needs to handle if he’s to win here. And he smokes it into right corner, takes the green next, then a red along “black cush” (copyright D. Dale) that if he misses, leaves the table. He doesn’t, looks set for another big break, then runs into the pack and lands on nowt ... so he cleanses the blue into the green pocket, another banging effort, only to miss the next red. But having played the pot with safety in mind, Mark can only go back to baulk, and the lead is a decent one.
Selby 10-8
That was crucial – for Shaun, who couldn’t afford to go four behind – and for us, who can’t afford a third consecutive final blowout when we’ve got our day of gluttony all planned out. On top of which, Mark looked nervous out there, off the mark with both safety and long-potting, and knows that Shaun won eight straight to ruin Wilson in the semi. If the Magician can take the next one too, we’ll be right into things.
Selby 10-7 Murphy (4-63)
Something I’ve really enjoyed about these championships: BBC sticking current players in co-commentary. We had Jack Lisowski earlier in the competition and who better to have now than the Judd Trump, who lost to Murphy in the last eight? Though Stephen Hendry is probably the best at this, Eurosport, with Dominic Dale, Joe Johnson and Neal Foulds, have raised the bar in terms of describing the technical aspects that only a pro could know, and it’s great that BBC have responded. Meanwhile, Shaun strokes balls into bags and should secure the frame at this visit.
Selby 10-7 Murphy (4-24)
A protracted safety session follows, the reds largely clustered, but Mark leaves another one, a thin cut to middle, that Shaun takes on from nearish the black spot ... but catches it thin, offering a long tester in return. This will show us how well Selbz is cueing, because it’s pretty straight ... and he doesn’t really get near it. It’s been an interesting start so far, Shaun not on his potting and Mark not on his safety; I doubt we’ll be saying that for long, but another error from the Jester allows an opener to middle ... but Shaun goes in-off! Curiouser and curiouser. Mark then misses another long one, it stays near the bag, and with the black available into both pockets this is a colossal chance. If Shaun’s to win this, he’ll have to win frames with sizeable breaks, so here we go.
Selby 10-7 Murphy (0-3)
Mark – yes, I’m on first name terms with these, players represent themselves, not the short, another joy of individual sport – leaves a stray red and Shaun absolutely annihilates it home to right corner. Again, the crowd lose it, but after the yellow goes, he misses the cannon on the pack so we’re back playing safety. It’s worth noting, though, that Shaun has really taken energy from the crowd this week – when he won the final frame of his second session against Kyren Wilson, he saluted as though he was in front. It reminded me of when Man United drew 2-2 at Arsenal in April 2003 and Alex Ferguson went over to the away fans as though celebrating a win even though his team were still second in the league table, making the point that he’d got his opponent and that everyone knew it. Murphy, a keen United fan, knew what he was doing.
Elbows are tapped over the famous old trophy, and dat guy Selbz will break.
Burn baby burn! Shaun Murphy trots out, then Mark Selby follows and it is my privilege to confirm that the boyz are baized. The Cruce – the first full arena in any sport, in over a year – goes absolutely wild.
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Preamble
Individual sports are a strange affair, structured around a few big events every year – or, when it comes to snooker and darts, one big event – that exist, in theory, to tell us the identity of the best player in the world. The formula – predicated on an elongated format that in theory should favour the most skilled not the most streaky – worked pretty well in the 80s and 90s, when Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry were in their pomp, and Taylor carried it on through the, er, oughts. But since then, things have changed.
Probably, what happened is that the overall standard improved – a common consequence of a dominant champion – so that the world championships now tend to tell us the identity of the best player in world over the two-and-a-bit-week period in which the world championships happen. It’s not tidy, but it’s exciting – since 1996, when Hendry won the last of his ridiculous five in a row, the title has been retained just twice – by Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2012 and 2013, and by Mark Selby in 2016 and 2017. By way of comparison, six different players have won the last six world titles, with only Michael van Gerwen claiming more that one.
As I said, though, individual sports a strange, because Judd Trump clattered John Higgins two years ago in one of the greatest final performances ever seen, in anything, the assumption was that we were witnessing the first act of an era. Which we were, because he’s been not far off unbeatable in the shorter forms since then, making a mockery of the notion that quality needs quantity to out itself ... and yet he’s not even made the final the last two years, out-fought by brilliant players playing brilliantly.
So tonight won’t necessarily tell us who’s the current number one, but it will tell us something else. Shaun Murphy has won the biggie once before, as a qualifier in 2005, and as a triple-crown champ, another one of these would put him into the stratosphere. Mark Selby, on the other hand, currently competes for the fifth spot in the list of the greatest of the modern era – Davis, Hendry, O’Sullivan and John Higgins are unarguables – but a fourth world title would end that discussion for the next bit.
It’s hard to look beyond Selby, who was great last night and competes like a mule with a hangover. But Murphy is a terrific potter with enough self-belief to fire an entire village, so all being well we’re set for a monstrous day of drama. There is absolutely nothing like it. Yes!
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