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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Stuart Goodwin

Mark Selby beats Ding Junhui to win World Snooker Championship – as it happened

Mark Selby
Leicester City fan Mark Selby celebrates with the World Snooker Championship trophy after beating Ding Junhui 18-14 at the Crucible. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Some insta-reaction on Twitter …

Neil Robertson there, the Tom Hanks of snooker betting.

Thanks for joining us on a busy old bank holiday night of sport. And over and done with well before midnight too – splendid.

You’ll find Paul Weaver’s report from the Crucible below. That’s all from me though. Bye!

Updated

There’s moisture welling in Ding’s eyes as he gives dignified testimony to Hazel Irvine. The 6-0 deficit in the first session must have taken a huge emotional toil.

As for the champion? “Thank God I’ve got a decent B-game to fall back on.” Selby isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he’s a fantastic match-player and a worthy champion.

The cheques are out. That’s £330,000 to Mark Selby, and £137,500 to Ding Junhui.

But the trophy is the main prize for Selby, followed by photo opportunities with spouse and bemused child. Ticker tape everywhere, adding a level of excitement to proceedings that the lack of coloured strips of paper simply couldn’t provide. Any problems, Crucible types, see here.

Quite the night for Leicester, all told, and Selby does his Foxes bit by holding his team’s banner next to the trophy.

Well done Selby, commiserations to Ding Junhui. A topsy-turvy final that never quite started to tip fully into the Chinese player’s favour.

Updated

MARK SELBY IS YOUR 2016 WORLD CHAMPION: Selby 18-14 Ding (74-0)

AND IT’S THERE.

Ding needs snookers, but he’s not going to get chance to make them, and he knows it. Handshake time.

Updated

Selby looks like getting home with four frames to spare.

For my part, I look like getting home with at least two trains to spare. It’s 67-0 to Selby, with 67 left on the table. One more ball …

Selby’s armed with the experience of having been in this position two years ago, and he’s wearing the pressure extremely well. A wobbly old red aside, the balls are being put away cleanly.

Is this the last table visit of this year’s championship? It could be. He’s already 39-0 up in the frame.

Updated

Frame 32: Selby 17-14 Ding

That frame broke an awkward spell for Selby, and he looks calm and assured with the reds well set.

Incidentally, for those who don’t want to know what happened in tonight’s Premier League fixture, look away now, and try not to read the content of the Breaking News alert at the bottom of your browser window. At least one phone in the Crucible auditorium just chimed with the news, much to the annoyance of referee Paul Collier.

Updated

Let’s stick our collective necks out and suggest: possibly.

Selby 17-14 Ding (59-11)

A punishing period of tactical stuff is broken by a cracking double from Selby, but he plays it with safety-first in mind, and rolls up behind the black 40 ahead, with 43 left on the table.

But then Ding cracks, leaving both of the remaining reds on, and Selby is on to the table like a lion on a gazelle. He gets over the line, and a 51-minute frame goes his way. Just one more frame needed for the world No1.

Updated

FAO my wife: I’m definitely not going to be out of work at 10. Can you feed the bunnies? Ta.

Updated

It’s fair to say that Selby is getting a bit more of the rub of the old green at this stage. A flick off the blue elevates a good-looking safety, leaving Ding in big trouble. But despite the obvious nerves, more calm hands give Selby something to think about.

And, after a fashion, he conjures a lovely snooker, sending the ball across and up, leaving Ding needing to swerve the white from behind the brown.

The fella can swerve the thing, no question about it. Too much as it turns out, resulting in a costly seven-point foul as he strikes the black.

Attempt two is a lovely shot however, and they’re going toe-to-toe with some cracking safety play here.

Selby’s nearly home in this frame, 43-7 up, but all the reds are now safe on the bottom cushion. That’s better news for the world No1 than it is for Ding at this stage.

And Selby’s finding his range with his safety play too. Ding is 36 behind with just 51 on the table. Not that he’s any slouch on the safety front himself – he’s acquitted himself brilliantly at times in this match.

Mark Williams – two-time champion at the Crucible – is getting butterflies just watching …

Updated

Selby’s looking a tiny bit ruffled here. Normally these tactical passages of play are to his liking, but his errors are irking him.

He takes his time before addressing a long-ish red, cueing awkwardly over the blue. In. A phenomenal shot. But – not for the first time tonight – it’s followed with something a bit average. Selby aims to cannon on a red but fails to make contact, instead flicking off the pink, leaving the cue ball some distance from his next object. Which he misses by some distance.

Ding can’t capitalise though, and badly misjudges his attempted red. Selby back at the table, puts the red Ding leaves away, and suddenly there’s a bit of daylight in this frame – Selby 27-7 up.

Updated

Ding’s in a pickle here. The white is, unusually, touching two reds.

He takes a seat on the cushion, cue almost vertical, and jabs tentatively down on to the cue ball. The white moves, but – crucially – neither of the reds budges. Good, calm hands.

But he leaves it touching one of the reds, and so it’s an easy safety for Selby, playing away. And he does more than a merely adequate job of putting the squeeze on Ding by tucking the white behind the brown.

Advantage Selby? Ding overhits his next effort. However, the man from Leicester overcooks his positional shot from an easy red. He might have to opt for safety once more.

Updated

Timely distraction from Alex Corcos …

I’ve heard it for the last time now and a mildly extensive Google search has yielded nothing: what is Ding’s entrance music? It sounds promising

Sadly Shazam decided to crash my phone when the players were coming out, so I failed to turn up an answer to this. Public hive mind – now is your time to shine.

We were due a messy passage of play – and here’s one.

Selby, again with extensions to extensions at hand, fails to sink a regulation-looking pot and he’s back in his seat 6-7 down in the frame, with safety-friendly reds everywhere. For those who don’t like the tactical side of this sport, look away now.

Updated

One-nil, to the Mark-Selby.

Lovely plant from the Leicester man, making it work between two balls sitting some distance apart.

Then he nestles behind the yellow to give Ding something to think about. A delicate dink off the side cushion looks like limiting the damage, but there’s a red on to the left middle …

Selby thinks better of it, and goes safe again. Good choice, because Ding ballses his next shot up quite badly. White in mid-table, red winking at the bottom right corner alluringly – seemingly a regulation pot for Selby. But he misses. It’s a huge, huge let-off for Ding.

But he can’t capitalise, and only gets seven points on the board before missing a lengthy blue with the rest. Selby’s back in.

Updated

Frame 31: Selby 16-14 Ding

None of this tightly clustered pack nonsense this time around. Ding splits them up good and early. Ordinarily this would be good news for any decent pro, but it also means any missed red could be the last shot of the frame.

Some good safety play from both men here – no balls down yet.

I might have made a mistake by referencing banners incidentally. A fair bit of correspondence of differing quality on this subject. We’re all about the little guy here at the Guardian though, so here’s this from Ian, presumably, one of those Clapton Ultras …

Enjoying your coverage this evening. Ultras banners are always on the large size – some as big as a snooker table. No A4 at Clapton. Ian.

And I thought some of my links were tenuous.

Updated

Selby 16-14 Ding (0-103)

Shot of the evening – a ridiculous, thinly cut red, leaving the white careering horizontally several times. That brings up 98 for Ding. Then it’s a formality to get over the century mark to 103. With three figures on the board however, he immediately dumps out, so no clearance this time.

But those paying attention may note that he’s creeping ever-closer to Selby now.

Updated

Premier League, sch-memier league. All the cool kids are over this way.

Ding’s break crosses the half-century mark. He’s not exactly got the ball on a string, as TV’s finest like to put it, but is working hard to make this visit count.

One more charge into the pack needed to free up some more options of a crimson bent – bootiful. And he’s 65 ahead, with 75 still on the table. Then 66 ahead with an easy black to leave Selby needing to do his snooker-y thing. But I smell a century.

Updated

Or not. A lovely long red from Ding. 16-14 has a nice ring to it for a plucky upstart. There’s a long way to go before that though – a Hobbit’s-handful of reds (to my mind, three) are available before further development is required.

This is calm and assured stuff under the circumstances. He’s 28 up, but a thwack into the bunch leaves a tricky red to the right centre. Suddenly he’s 35-0 up with lots to play with.

Updated

Frame 30: Selby 16-13 Ding

Selby to break after the mid-session interval. Tidy enough. Ding sends the cue ball back towards the green pocket, flirts with it suggestively, and leaves Selby with an awkward safety. The world No1 clips the object red far too thin, but the cue ball, between mid-table and baulk, has the blue between it and anything meaningful.

His next safety is much better, and although Ding gets the white back up the table, Selby has a chance. No dice. But he plays it as a shot to nothing with enough weight to get tightish to the top cushion. We might have a few minutes of this.

Bit of live-blogging housekeeping from eight days ago while I have a sec …

In Lawrence Ostlere’s mile-by-mile coverage of the London Marathon, he plugged in tweets from me giving sporadic from-the-roadside updates of the Guardian Sport entrants. We had Owen Gibson > Sachin Nakrani > Steve McMillan in the opening stages, which remained true until the boy Nakrani blew a gasket in the latter half, allowing the hobbled McMillan to romp on through.

Unfortunately, what I failed to acknowledge is that the whippet-like youngling Alan Smith, also of this parish, was also in the race. And he beat the lot of them, with a fine time of 3hrs 15m 13sec. So belated congrats Alan.

ATTEMPTED SEGUE: a while back Alan noted that he once took part in a race up against one Ronnie O’Sullivan. Intriguingly, some of Ronnie times can be found in his profile on the Power of 10 website. I knew he enjoyed his running, but I had no idea he was quite that good. His Parkrun (5km) PB: 18m 8sec. So he has me licked by over six minutes (no gauge of class in itself by the way).

Updated

Many thanks for everyone’s correspondence (seven people now) suggesting various Leicester City/Ranieri/Dilly Ding snooker links to tie together all of tonight’s potential sporting news. Much obliged, but just for the record I’ve had it written in a pad since about 5pm on Friday. So if it comes to it, it’s MINE.

Back on crap holdy-uppy things in the crowd, important thoughts from our own Owen Gibson, which can apply to all sports everywhere …

Updated

Mid-session interval: Selby 16-13 Ding (0-108)

Let’s be honest, 16-13 is not a lovely scoreline to be on the wrong end of in a first-to-18 match, but it’s a hell of a lot better than 17-12.

Ding is close to the line in this frame now. One more red …

Clack.

He visibly relaxes as the ensuing pink also goes down, reducing the possibility for the Selby snooker-a-tron kicking into life for the first time tonight.

And Ding goes into the mid-session interval with a clearance of 70. As Lenny Kravitz once sang, much to my annoyance …

Updated

Dunno. Looks more like a less terse Lord Kitchener to me.

I am absolutely adamant that Alan McManus has something Smurf-y about him though.

Updated

Paul Collier, officiating the final, shows his displeasure as another mobile chimes out, shattering the decorum at the table.

Ding is not to be chimed out of his composure however, and his next shot is an outstanding, red-developing rasper. But with his break at the 22 mark, he gets an unfortunate double-kiss trying to play safe off the green.

Selby has a red on – a fine-ish cut. It’s close … but misses!

Ding breathes again, and is back at the table. These are all huge moments for his chances now.

Cracks in the Selby armour. A badly misjudged dink on to a red finishes short, and leaves Ding well set once more.

But then Ding finishes short playing for the blue! Plenty of capacity for things to go badly wrong, but playing it round the green pocket with lots of side takes him back in touch with the reds. Clustered reds leaves lots of mileage in this frame however.

Also available on the Guardian tonight, more sport with potentially news-making potential. Currently eight minutes in …

Frame 29: Selby 16-12 Ding

A phenomenal long pot from Ding to get the scoreboard moving. But the ensuing yellow fails to drop. Mercifully, nothing of note left for Selby.

Time for some safety, and we’re soon in tippy tappy cluster territory. A re-rack looked a shoo-in, until Ding leaves the cue ball touching one of the reds. Easy safety for Selby, playing away. But then ANOTHER touching ball after a well-weighted effort back down-table by Ding.

Updated

Meanwhile, this from the gorgeously named Riley Strother …

Ahoy there,

I am following along from the Race Rocks lighthouse perched on a tiny island off the west coast of British Columbia! Only about 10 miles from Victoria, hometown of Cliff Thorburn! It’s too bad there aren’t any top Canadian players anymore. Not like the 80s when there were 3 or 4! Although I read somewhere that Marco Fu grew up in Vancouver.

Cheers,

Riley

Myself and Mrs Goodwin hit our 10-year anniversary mark next year and are heading Canada-wards. Don’t suppose the lighthouse offers bed and board? Sounds marvellous. #shamelessblaggingends

Updated

Selby 16-12 Ding (0-87)

More phone-based dickheadedness in the crowd. Just put them on silent, folks. Ding composes himself and sinks an awkward black. Let’s be honest, everything’s awkward at this stage, particularly when you’re five frames down to a player noted for closing matches out.

But Ding gets over the line. He needed to seal the frame to leave himself with more than a margin of error to play with – and he has.

Updated

Everyone’s cashing out their Ding bets. Boo. There’s life in this match yet – Ding’s at the table, but there’s plenty of work to do to develop some clustered reds. And develop them he does. Well, two of them anyway.

I’ve put it off for as long as I can. Time for The Safety Dance.

Selby’s tight on the bottom cushion, with very, very limited options to get the cue ball safe. He will be doing extremely well to make a shot and leave Ding without a red on.

Almost three minutes after Selby took the table, he tries a tap off one cushion into the base of the cluster. But he leaves a red on for Ding to the right centre pocket. It creeps in. Great drama.

Frame 28: Selby 16-Ding 11

Ding has cut a calm figure this evening but just before the crucial black in frame 27 his face was suddenly doused in sweat. If this match is to go much further he needs to rally in almost as grand a style as he managed at this time yesterday.

Early stages of this frame, great pot from Ding cueing from the bottom cushion to sink a red into the right centre. Couple of shots later, time for another key black to take the cue ball into the clustered reds. Strong contact, unfortunate outcome. Not a lot immediately on.

Updated

Selby 16-11 Ding (67-60)

Black ball needed by Selby. He’s well placed on the pink …

But he fluffs his position. He needs to cut it in from a fine angle now.

Ding towels his face as Selby lines the shot up. He makes it. It’s an outrageously difficult shot in any circumstances. Pros all week have been referring to Selby as a superb match player – that’s one reason why.

Updated

Unbelievable. His position for the penultimate red finishes a fraction of a ball short, and the pot isn’t on.

The safety’s just short of perfect, and Selby takes on a long red. Missed.

Ding responds with a better safety, and a harder long pot faces the world No1. Fortune favours him as the missed red goes safe.

Ding is 60-31 up, agonisingly short of a frame-clinching lead.

Selby eyes up a flamboyant double into the middle pocket, with the cue ball travelling past from baulk down to the bottom cushion and back again. He makes it. Frame back in Selby’s hands?

Ding’s tail is up. A brave cannon to develop two balls by the bottom cushion leaves all remaining reds with room the breathe. The Chinese player quickly takes the lead in the frame.

Updated

A great attempt to rustle the pack from distance and develop matters further in his favour results in a touching ball, so Selby’s contribution ends with him 27-0 up.

Ding needs to head for the cluster off a side cushion. Attempt one stops well short. Attempt two taps them lightly, but Selby thinks he’s left a red on. He chops down on the cue ball, applying left hand side, but has midjudged the gap to the object ball, and strikes another in between the two. No pot, but nothing left for Ding to score with.

Selby then takes on a long red and misses by several inches, before the cue ball hammers into the cluster of reds. This is a crucial opportunity for the Chinese, with plenty of reds available.

Last year’s losing finalist laments …

Updated

Frame 27: Selby 15-11 Ding

Ding breaks, before Selby fluffs an attempt to get the cue ball back behind the D.

The Chinese then leaves the white tight to the baulk cushion once more. If he’s been rattled during this match, his safety hasn’t always shown it. A couple of shots later an attempted long red from Ding rattles the jaws but flies out, skirting with the opposite corner on its way back up the table.

It’s a longish red for Selby, but in it pops. He has the initiative again. When his eye’s in he’s an astonishingly clean potter.

Selby 15-11 Ding (103-0)

Selby adds a break of 46 to comfortably take the frame, and leaves himself just three short of a second World Championship title.

If the next frame doesn’t go Ding’s way, it will take something dramatic, almost Mike Hallett-ian, to stop Selby taking the trophy.

Updated

Selby’s visit ends on 57 as he misses a red to the middle pocket by some distance.

But not as much as Ding misses a longish red to the bottom corner. Lacked conviction, and this is now Selby’s frame to lose.

Meanwhile, Tim here fancies the match to finish this side of midnight …

Ding is muttering to himself in the chair, and is clearly gutted at fluffing that early chance. Selby looks composed at the table and this is a good opportunity to build a big lead in the frame.

The pink spot is tied up, so it’s up with the yellow spot. Could be a factor. Selby’s break is already 41.

Fourth and final session – frame 26: Selby 14-11 Ding

We go again. And this time we ain’t stopping for nuthin’.

Still up for grabs:

To the winner: £330,000
For the runner-up: £137,500
For the highest break: £10,000 (currently Kyren Wilson’s 143)

Huge reception for Ding Junhui. Not unhuge for Selby either. Plenty of love in the room for both, but on noise alone, the Ding fans have it.

Selby breaks, Ding misses long red and leaves it on.

Updated

Another tab for your browsing this evening. Yes, yes I know you all love snooker and snooker only, but …

Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is 8pm BST, but Tom Bryant is already in the chair, covering all the latest Thai Buddhist monk-related developments.

Congrats to Burnley too – yo-yoing back up to the Premier League once more.

Updated

Mayday, mayday

Quick reminder for those who missed it earlier: I was booked to cover this live blog between the hours of 2pm-10pm today. Obviously given the nature of free-flowing sport, that’s a guide, and I’ll be here for the duration – and will whistle a happy tune throughout, I’ll have you know.

But let’s see how accurate a guide that was.

Last night’s evening session finished after 12.30am, let’s not forget.

On this funtime bank holiday, my last train home is at – gulp – 12.35am.

The race is nearly on, ladies and gents.

Get your finish time predictions in now – stuart.goodwin@theguardian.com or @stuartgoodwin.

Oh banter how we do love thee …

Before things ramp up again in Sheffield, a very quick nod to the landlord of The White Horse Inn in Westleton, Suffolk, where I recently found myself. Nothing to do with the fare on offer or anything, but because me and the Mrs eventually got to the bottom of why his voice was so familiar.

He is the larynx twin of David Mitchell’s character from the commentary box here …

Back on birthday boy Jimmy White for a second, a look at the punditry lineups available to UK viewers today …

Ronnie Wood! He played on the Stones’ Black and Blue LP as well, although I don’t think that was necessarily about snooker. “The first meaningless Rolling Stones album,” according to Lester Bangs.

The Whirlwind diehards still lament his absence from the World Championship, and he was dumped out of the first round of qualifying this year 10-9 by Northern Ireland’s Gerard Greene.

In fact a quick peek at the current world rankings reveals that he’s currently the world no120, with circuit earnings this season of just £500. Two years ago he told Decca Aitkenhead: “If I didn’t think I could still win the world title, I’d stop playing.”

But it’s now 10 years since his last appearance at the Crucible. Could he soon follow Steve Davis into retirement?

Updated

For the few of you who haven’t had the fact ramraided into your skulls in recent weeks, Mark Selby – a proud Leicester man – is an equally proud Leicester fan. On a tense day for him as a snooker professional, it’s hard to imagine he won’t be getting fed updates from Stamford Bridge tonight, solicited or otherwise. Those rowdy bloody snooker fans.

The potentially crucial Chelsea v Spurs match will be getting the full MBM treatment shortly, but for those keeping an eye on Premier League title affairs while you keep tabs on all things baize-y, a few bits to whet your appetite:

Jamie Vardy’s having a party: Leicester players to watch Spurs at striker’s house

And he’s won the Football Writers’ award

But Claudio Ranieri is being a good son and is prioritising lunch with his 96-year-old mum over keeping track of affairs off the Fulham Road

Updated

BBC renews World Snooker Championship contract

Some good news for armchair fans who like their sport delivered terrestrially …

Snooker’s world championship will remain on terrestrial television until 2019 after the BBC secured a two-year extension to its deal.

The agreement also includes broadcast rights for the UK Championship and Masters, the BBC said.

Barbara Slater, the BBC Sport director, said: “We know there will be millions of snooker fans across the country celebrating the fact they can continue to watch world-class snooker on free-to-air television.”

Barry Hearn, chairman of World Snooker, said: “We’ve agreed a new two-year extension with the BBC. We’re now guaranteed on air until 2019 and I fancy quite a few more years after that.”

Full story below …

Interesting observation on Twitter …

Elsewhere, the world No77 is backing the world No1 …

Meanwhile, in Peter Ebdon-world (although he does make a good point) …

End of afternoon session: Selby 14-11 Ding (75-11)

With the scores at 64-11 to Selby, a difficult cut on the black is frame ball. He avoids going in-off in the middle pocket, and is now in trademark territory: he has his opponent needing snookers, at the table with an inch-perfect safety leaving the cue ball tight on the baulk cushion.

Ding’s response is undercooked, but none of the reds are on.

Two shots later Ding inadvertently sinks the cue ball in the green pocket while trying to play safe, immediately concedes, and that’s that.

Technically it’s 4-4 this afternoon, but Selby clearly goes in the happier. With one more session to go in this year’s tournament, Selby needs just four more frames.

Today’s scoring so far (Selby first): 7-121 (89), 56-61, 126-11 (126), 0-103 (103), 75-43 (52), 118-9 (68), 1-69 (52), 75-11

I’m here until the bitter end, whenever that may be. The players are due back out again at 7pm BST.

Next stop: a sarnie and some fresh air. Back shortly.

Updated

At 55-4 up, a difficult clipped red into the middle pocket from Selby fails to drop. A huge, huge let-off for Ding. But two balls later, an awful positional shot for the next red leaves nothing on. Hard to tell exactly what he was playing for there.

Whatever it was, it didn’t work. And his attempted safety with the extension and the rest is undercooked - Selby’s 44 ahead, with 75 remaining on the table. He eyes up a long red, and sinks it.

Updated

For an allegedly tedious player, once Selby gets in he doesn’t hang around. Already the break’s well over 40 points, but he’s running out of easy reds. It will be seriously impressive for him to seal the frame at this visit.

An attempted flick off two cushions fails to land, and Ding has the cue ball put back for Selby to try and repeat the trick.

And what a trick it is. There’s reds on for Ding but nothing straightforward so he opts for safety once more.

Selby licks his lips and lines up a long one of his own. Incha get, clean as a whistle. Lots of reds for him to play with now, but with the black tied up this might be a break featuring at least one or two blues.

Frame 25: Selby 13-11 Ding

So will we go into tonight 14-11 or 13-12? Three frames ahead with four needed would put Selby in an incredibly strong position, but a one-frame gap would make it anybody’s.

Solid safety early on from Ding, replied to in kind by a deft, cluster-busting safety from Selby. There’s reds on, but Ding opts to play safe, and leaves the world No1 tight on the baulk cushion, and in all kinds of trouble. He can see plenty of reds, but will do incredibly well to find a route back up the table from here.

Updated

Selby 13-11 Ding (1-69)

Arguably more by luck than judgment, Ding gets over the line to reduce the deficit to two frames.

I’m not sure we’ve seen the last replay of that huge kick on the pink. Pivotal moment?

Updated

An emerging theme to Ding in this match has been that the longer he takes over his shot selection, the more likely that it’s not going to pan out as planned. He lets Selby in with a careless attempted safety.

But what an awful kick Selby gets on a tricky pink into the middle pocket. He swipes at the air with his cue in frustration, and looks absolutely furious. A huge, huge let-off for Ding. Having looked every bit like bottling this frame, he’s suddenly on the verge of taking it.

Unless there’s a tongue in the cheek here, Neil Richards is #teamebdon …

And duly, Ding runs a crucial six inches out of position, leaving a difficult black. He sinks it to go 52 ahead, with 91 remaining. Mercifully, he refuses to try and make an exceptionally difficult plant, and opts to play safe.

Ding could be in here. Last night he took these kind of opportunities well, but amid the pressure of his first World Championship final every shot feels like it should kick the momentum either way. He’s quickly 44-0 up in the frame, but the rest is out again …

Frame 24: Selby 13-10 Ding

Two frames left in the session. Selby breaks. Ding sinks a long red. There’s a pattern here, but what happens in the next five minutes could go a long way to dictating the destiny of the match. It feels an awful lot like a must-win frame for the Chinese.

Selby 13-10 Ding (118-9)

The world No1 closes out with a break of 68, slamming the black away aggressively to take the frame 118-9. At one point that frame looked like leaving us with a scoreline of Selby 12-11 Ding. In a match of pivotal frames, that could be a telling gap.

Updated

With another three-frame cushion beckoning for Selby, a red up the rail refuses to drop. The ensuing miss from Ding feels crucial, and he overcuts it horribly. Extend-o cue time again from Selby, and that’s a huge reprieve. It’s been far from vintage from him this afternoon, but he’s injected just enough quality at crucial times to keep Ding lagging behind. He takes the score past the point of snookers being needed and is on the verge of guaranteeing a lead for the final session.

Simon McMahon is sort of with me on the forced fun of the Crucible banners (see 15.46), although I do not endorse the quality of his puns.

Actually now I say that, the extension one would have been ideal a few minutes ago.

You’re not wrong about the embarrassingly naff ‘Ton Up’ posters. They should hand out blank ones like they do at the darts for punters to write their own messages on. ‘Ding Dong battle’, ‘Look at the size of my extension’, ‘Is snooker past its Selby date?’, that sort of thing. The possibilities are endless.

Frame 23: Selby 12-10 Ding

Ding breaks. Selby rolls delicately into the pack off the side cushion. The Chinese judges his safety well, but leaves a tempting red on. Badly misjudged by the world No1. This a potentially useful position for Ding – all the more so after a gorgeous black into the middle pocket which spins around the yellow pocket and back down to a brace of loose reds.

Shortly after however, another attempted black misses by some distance. But not as much as Selby’s attempted safety misses by – he aims to flick off a red and back into baulk, but pings the white around the table to leave it almost level with the pink.

Is there a window through a couple of reds to knock in the inviting ball by the bottom left corner? Ding thinks so. But if there was, he failed to find it, and the resulting shot looks amateurish.

Then Selby fails to tap in the same red from distance, though leaves Ding looking to pot his way out of trouble. Another miss.

Selby’s at the table, 8-9 down, and suddenly there’s all manner of extensions to extensions needed to get his cue all the way up the length of the table to try and tap in a red that’s no more than 12 inches from the pocket. He makes it. But this is an ugly frame so far, and soon he’s out of position again 16-9 up.

Updated

Selby 12-10 Ding (75-43)

With only the colours left, and Selby 66-43 up, Ding fluffs an attempted safety. Awkwardish yellow goes down, and Selby’s back in charge. Quietly, he’s closing in on the 18 frames required.

Updated

There have been several references to China grinding to a halt while this match is on, most recently from Barry Hearn on the BBC.

Expected viewing predictions vary wildly, but let’s just say this match, the first to feature a player from Asia, is not going unnoticed in the country of Ding’s birth.

The break’s at 31, but sloppy positional play grinds Ding to a halt. Selby responds with his best shot of the afternoon so far – an outstanding long red to swing the momentumometer back in his direction.

There’s no quickfire century from Selby this time though, and Ding is back at the table, 14-8 down. Bit of safety, followed by another deliciously clean long red into the bottom left pocket. Plenty of reds to play with here for the Chinese.

Updated

Frame 22: Selby 11-10 Ding

An alehouse-level break from Selby, leaving the cue ball closer to the left middle pocket than the top cushion.

Ding looks like getting among the balls immediately, but tricky bridging tight to the cushion forces the miss on an otherwise straightforward-looking red. So Selby is quickly reprieved. His capacity for brushing off adverse situations is seriously impressive.

News you might have missed last night incidentally – in fact news published so late it almost missed the final edition of today’s paper, thanks to the late finish in Sheffield …

Crucible set for World Snooker Championship contract extension

The contract with The Crucible comes to an end next year and there had been speculation that the world championship – which earns £5m for Sheffield over the 17 days of the competition – could leave the city and even move abroad …

Jason Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, told The Guardian: “I don’t think any of us in the sport have the heart to change. We’ve had substantial offers to move the world championship. But what price do you put on history? What price do you put on heritage? On those wonderful photographs you see when you walk backstage? Taking snooker away from here would be like taking the Wimbledon tennis championships away from Wimbledon.

“I’m hoping for a long-term deal – and I’m hoping an announcement will be made very shortly.”

The full story from Paul Weaver can be found here.

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Going back a bit, during Selby’s semi-final victory over Marco Fu, there was the brain-aching proposition of a 76min 11sec frame, a Crucible record.

To put that into perspective, you could watch James Whale’s Frankenstein in its entirety, and then watch the YouTube video of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record-breakingly-fast 147 from 1997. And still have caught the first and last shots of the frame.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record-breaking 147 from 1997.

Speaking of Hendry, he took a bit of flak online about his views on Selby’s playing style. Which, to be honest, I thought were fairly well balanced.

Selby will never be a rip-roaring crowd-pleaser in the White/O’Sullivan/Trump mould, but he has tournament play down to a pretty fine art. And however distracted some sectors of the audience find themselves by some of his relentless safety play, it is mesmerising. Imagine being in the seat by the table watching it, knowing you’re consistently a minute and a half away from having another puzzle to deal with.

Mark Selby’s style of play is not to everyone’s liking.
Mark Selby’s style of play is not to everyone’s liking. Photograph: BPI/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Mid-session interval: Selby 11-10 Ding (0-103)

Ding crosses the 100 barrier, sticks out his tongue, and the – let’s face it, bloody awful – “TON UP” banners are raised in the crowd. No total clearance, but that’s his 14th century of the tournament, just two behind Stephen Hendry’s World Championship record.

We’re going to 11-10, and this seesawing match is tightening up again. Mid-session interval time.

Updated

Pretty sensibly, he’s opted to try and seal the frame as opposed to going for the maximum. 56-0 up he plays for the blue.

Updated

Six reds and six blacks from Ding so far in this break. Surely not …

Frame 21: Selby 11-9 Ding

That was a great reaction from Selby. But again he’s uncharacteristically sloppy with the safety at the start of the next frame. Ding needed to shake that last frame off and it looks like he has.

Throughout the match the room has seemed to be on Ding’s side. And not just them, if you believe the testimony of Eric Bristow. The MBE is apparently Massive Billiards Expert …

Updated

Selby 11-9 Ding (126-11)

That’s century No9 for Selby at this year’s tournament. Once again he’s shown that he’s as dangerous when things aren’t going his way as when they are. 84th century at the Crucible in all for 2016, closing in on the record of 86.

A stunning pink is coupled with splendid position rolling round the cushions to leave a delicate black – that’s a pretty remarkable break of 126 under the circumstances.

Updated

Selby, perhaps sensing he’s up against it, has raised the pace, taking his break past the half-century. Ding already requires snookers in this frame, and Selby is showing no sign of letting this one go.

Mark Selby and Ding Juhnui looking tense at The Crucible.
Mark Selby and Ding Juhnui looking tense at The Crucible. Photograph: BPI/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Lucy Reynolds evokes a quite beautiful image …

The 1979 world champion is nowadays a renowned coach in the game, working with a host of players including Ding and Barry Hawkins this season.

Frankly, I can’t imagine many things more soothing than a talking-to from Terry. My nan lived in Caenarvon for years and even when she lost her rag with me it was like having a bedtime story read to you.

Frame 20: Selby 10-9 Ding

Selby breaks, Ding replies with a strong safety tight to the cushion.

Selby inadvertently pots the black to give away seven points, and Ding puts away another great long red.

Only he can’t hold the table, and an attempted red nestles in the jaws of the pocket invitingly. Selby has a chance, albeit an awkward one with the pink locked tight to the top of a cluster of reds.

But then an aggressive black develops things nicely. Lots to play with here.

Selby 10-9 Ding (56-61)

Ding clears the table, giving himself a little pep up as the black goes in. The gap is down to one. Ding was one ball away from being 7-0 down at one point, let’s not forget.

Don’t forget also that the Chinese, currently ranked No17 in the world, had to go through qualifying this year. This has not been the quietest month of his life.

Updated

This feels like a crucial moment in the context of the match. If Selby can hang on, it’s vital breathing space at a time when things aren’t necessarily going his way. If Ding can come back to just one frame behind, you’d back him to close the gap all the way on the last hour’s evidence. He has Selby in no end of trouble here with some glorious snookers.

The world No1 escapes from his latest effort off two cushions, but Ding puts away a stunning red as clean as you like from the tightest of angles. Ding has the table, but with some unusually-placed colours to contend with. The frame is almost 50 mins old incidentally.

Selby’s 52-22 up but Ding is holding his own marvellously on the safety front. He puts Selby into no end of trouble with a snooker behind the pink, and an aggressive escape leaves an inviting long red into the yellow corner to seal the frame.

Eek. Missed. And now Selby has applied thumbscrews with a pig of a snooker needing the help of cushions that haven’t always obliged in recent weeks.

At the second attempt, Ding needs to hit to avoid needing extras of his own. Not only does he escape, he flukes the snooker of his own.

Selby almost snookers him again, but not quite. The rub of the green is definitely with the Chinese first-time finalist this afternoon.

Selby ends his break at 36, needing one more red and a decent colour to leave Ding looking for snookers. A great effort from the Chinese puts Selby into trouble of his own, however.

John S asks …

If Ding wins, would this be the first Crucible winner that lives in Sheffield, and if so are we allowed to use the word “irony” in that eventuality?

Answers on a postcard, Guardianistas.

First of those spells where the momentum drops, people go to make a cuppa and Peter Ebdon leans into the screen, licking his lips. Yet another fine red by Ding followed by a fluffed colour (a tricky pink, with hampered bridging).

Selby is as the table, 28-21 up, and with some clever positional play suddenly things are looking decently set, even though nothing but the blue is on its spot.

Back on the fatigue question, this from Gary Naylor …

I have to say, some of the crowd reactions to commentary feeds that a sizeable number of fans are checking into via headphones has been clearly unsettling to the players throughout the tournament. It must be incredibly weird when a murmur of laughter breaks out for no apparent reason while you’re sizing up your options.

Dare I say it, it’s been a bit Radio 4ish audience behaviour as well. All a bit: “I should probably laugh at that as other people are doing it.” Irrespective of the actual humour content.

More mistakes here in a match that’s been full of them in among some majestic potting and safety play. Ding misjudges his safety to dump the cue ball straight in, and Selby’s slightly appalled with himself after leaving a selection of long reds on with his attempted safety back up the table.

Ding Junhui is the first Asian player to make the Crucible final.
Ding Junhui is the first Asian player to make the Crucible final. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Ding, with no clear path from the pot to a colour, spins it monstrously and aggressively through a host of reds huddled in the corner to force its way into some open table. A brave shot and one that gives him another great chance. There are three reds close to cushions though – this could take a while. With little on, Ding closes his break at 13 and goes safe once more. Selby at the table, 16-20 down in the frame.

Updated

David Wall’s been in touch. Feel free to do the same: stuart.goodwin@theguardian.com or @stuartgoodwin.

It was probably the 15th, marathon frame last night that caught the headlines, but I thought the last one was fascinating in its own way. Both players started making mistakes that you’d be embarrassed to make at your local club (or even on the pool table in the pub). It’s not often that you see the effects of mental fatigue so obviously, but both players seemed to be almost falling asleep at the table and could barely carry out otherwise routine shots as a result. Of course, it’s magnified in a sport like snooker, but it just highlighted how important mental alertness, as well as physical fitness, is in top level sport.

Agree completely. Selby’s eyes were a picture as play slipped past midnight. It often gets forgotten that Dennis Taylor’s famous victory over Steve Davis was a match strewn with errors in the closing stages. There is always drama when fatigue hits.

The Hustler taught us this. Hell, Rocky II taught us this.

A stunningly clean long pot from Ding. The corner pockets are like a yawning Pac-Man to him from distance so far this afternoon. An awkward yellow takes him back towards the reds, and there’s options to play with. But in taking a tricky shot with the rest – with which he’s had mixed success in this game – he fails to make it count.

But again Selby can’t capitalise. And his next attempt at a safety isn’t brilliant either.

Frame 19: Selby 10-8 Ding

Ding breaks, and after Selby opts to go safe on the bottom cushion instead of going back to baulk, the Chinese puts away a long red into the yellow pocket beautifully. Big chance. However, he overruns when playing for the next red, and in opting to take it on, smashes the cluster wide open while missing by some distance.

Selby’s at the table, but his positioning’s off too. An awkward brown puts him back among the balls however. First sustained spell at the table for the 2014 champion.

After flagging up a disturbance in the crowd, Selby gets down and fluffs his positional shot horribly. 12-4 Selby in the frame, and his attempted safety isn’t great either.

Selby 10-8 Ding (7-121)

The frame is Ding’s as he calmly keeps building a break past the 80 mark. He falters at 89, but that will help calm his nerves.

It needs pointing out however that this year’s championship is a world where giving away 16 points in fouls is no impediment to Selby keeping his side of the ticking clocking along. The phrase “Mark Selby requires three snookers” does not necessarily mean he’s out of these frames.

Updated

There’s some nervous stuff going on here already. Ding offers Selby the chance of an opening by leaving a red close to the pocket, but – still – it’s no gimme, and the world No1 fails to take advantage.

The Chinese – famously the first Asian player to make the Crucible final – makes no mistake next time and he’s back at the table with the reds placed pretty promisingly. That blue, an inch off the top cushion, is out of commission as far as break-building is concerned and Ding is strong favourite for this frame now.

The famously patient Peter Ebdon is loving this incidentally … here’s his thoughts on Selby:

Ding puts the cue ball into the baulk area after a neat break of 32, to give him a 32-1 lead in the frame. We’re into safety territory already.

18th frame: Selby 10-7 Ding

First miss of the day: Ding rattles the jaws with a long red.
First pot of the day: Selby puts a red away, but immediately fluffs a blue, which goes safe. Early opportunity for Ding.

Updated

The players enter the auditorium

Ding enters first, with his snazzy red waistcoat. Little wry grin, giving little away. Selby checks his cuetip, and gives a jaunty wave as he passes the World Championship trophy, clad in his gloriously retro grey garb. Selby will break first.

The trophy sits on display in the final at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The trophy sits on display in the final at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

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Preamble

The story so far …

In short: Mark Selby (Eng) leads Ding Junhui (Chn) 10-7

(Selby first) 125-8 (91), 70-68 (52), 101-43 (76), 124-0 (120), 100-0 (70), 77-38, 47-68, 14-107, 73-22, 30-92 (76), 1-103 (103), 49-93 (89), 71-1, 0-86 (86), 52-82 (55), 86-25, 67-27

In long: this is not over, and may not be for quite some time.

Two sessions to go, at 2pm and 7pm. First to 18, and the world No1 Selby has shown that he has two wildly different gears to play with. There’s the clinical, break-making virtuosity as evidenced at key times of Sunday’s first session, where he compiled breaks of 91, 76, and 120.

But in making his way to a daunting 6-0 lead, the 32-year-old from Leicester also showcased his capacity for cruelty. His safety play is not just a thing of art, it is absolutely relentless.

Still, despite his unflashy style, he’s a very human player, Hulk-smashing the table after key pots, and with the capacity to miss key balls at crucial times. A tricky blue into the yellow pocket could have tied up a 7-0 lead, but instead he let Ding in. And in he stayed.

6-0 became 6-2 at the end of the first session. And despite Selby taking the first frame of the evening, it soon became 7-5.

By half past midnight in Sheffield, we were close to matters being very tight at 9-8. But Selby, clearly fighting away the sleepydust, took the final frame of the session, held his cue aloft as if he’d won the whole thing, and went to bed with a three-frame cushion.

Mathematically, Selby could seal the win in the afternoon session.
Realistically, however, I’ve already got a printout of the last bank holiday trains home to hand.

Updated

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