2023 World Snooker Championship Final: Luca Brecel beat Mark Selby to claim his first world title

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By Steve Sutcliffe BBC Sport at The Crucible Theater May 1, 2023, 16:15 GMT

Updated 1 hour ago

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The best of Luca Brecel as he beats Mark Selby in the World Final

Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 15th April – 1st May

Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV and Red Button with continuous coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport and the BBC Sport app

Belgium’s Luca Bressel became the first player from continental Europe to win the World Snooker Championship with an 18-15 victory over Mark Selby in Sheffield.

Pressel, 28, is the fourth non-British winner of the Crucible and the first overseas player to win since Neil Robertson in 2010.

Brecel won six of eight frames on Monday afternoon to open up a 15-10 lead.

A visibly emotional Brecel hit the £500,000 grand prize by snapping three frames in the evening.

“Amazing thing. [Selby is] The worst opponent in the final. He keeps coming back, he’s a very fighter and at 16-15, I couldn’t have imagined winning at all,” Pressel told BBC Sport.

“I was missing balls by a mile. I don’t know how I did it. Once I got to 17, I fancied I had the chance to bowl, which I did. It feels great.”

Despite being the youngest player to take part in the tournament in 2012, at the age of 17 years and 45 days, the “Belgian Bullets” had never won a single match at the famous stadium until this year, losing in the first round of their previous five matches. visits.

Snooker is a tough sport and in the first round [this year] I could have lost to Ricky Walden – I beat him 10-9″.

“If I had lost that match, everyone would have said ‘He lost again in the first round’ and now I’m the winner, such are the small margins in snooker, it’s crazy. I still can’t believe it.”

It’s a moment long in the making for Brissel, who climbed eight places to finish the season second in the world rankings behind Ronnie O’Sullivan.

But it did not arrive until he passed the most rigorous test of England’s four-time world champion Selby, who won five frames in a row and scored 315 unanswered points at one stage to come back to 16-15.

With the tension mounting, Pressel entered a well-timed 51 to let himself be on the brink of victory, which he confirmed with a neat break of 112.

Presil comes on the biggest stage

Image source, Getty Images

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Luca Brecel moves to second place in the world rankings after winning the world title

After losing Sunday’s opening session 6-2, the manner in which Selby fought to frame one in session two – the round sparking a scintillating maximum break of 147 – raised important questions about how Brecel would respond.

But, after resuming a 9-8 lead on Monday afternoon, Brecel put in a stunning display of seemingly attacking snooker to take the game away from his opponent once again, compiling four impressive breaks of centuries of 113, 101, 141 and 119.

In a competition described as a test of Brecel’s mental stamina as much as his unquestioned skill, few insiders of the Crucible Theater could have been prepared for his blistering start.

Brecel fired in doubles, a series of stunning long bowls and seemingly cleared balls at will as he churn through the first four frames in less than an hour.

It was a theme that continued initially in the closing session, as Brecel made several stunning pots to craft 67 that saw him lead 16-10.

Brecel’s overbearing style endeared him to fans around the world, particularly the manner of his famous victories over O’Sullivan and Si Jiahui on his run to the final.

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Watch the moment Luca Bresil wins his first world title

But when things don’t go according to plan, the drawback is that he guarantees opportunities for his opponent – and few in the game are as ruthless as Selby in taking advantage of them.

A great effort on a long blue saw Selby reduce his arrears with a break of 78 and then took an impressive 122 on his way to reaching the middle of the deciding session just 16-13.

Selby’s charge continued with a half-century in the thirtieth frame and a dreadful red put him on course to win the thirty-first frame.

That opened up the possibility of the first Crucible finale since Peter Ebdon’s 18-17 victory over Stephen Hendry in 2002, but Brecel regained his composure to cross the line for an emotional victory.

“I struggled and gave all but all the credit to Luca that he deserves,” said Selby, the 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021 Crucible Champion.

“Congratulations Luca, he’s a fantastic talent, a great boy and has a beautiful family. I wish him all the best. It was great to hit 147 on the Crucible, I never thought I’d do that in a final.”

“It was an amazing achievement and something I will remember for the rest of my life but it’s not about me today, it’s about Luca, he played great over the two days.”

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Mark Selby broke 147 in 147 seconds

“A breath of fresh air” – analysis

John Parrott, 1991 World Champion:

He was a breath of fresh air during this tournament. It’s a refreshing thing to watch. He goes for his shots, he doesn’t care if he misses but he shoots more than he’s entitled to.

We talked about Mark’s character this evening, but how much does he show Luca? To cross the line there, that’s what champions do. Then in the last frame, to finish as he did with a horn, the champion’s mark.

Steve Davis, six-time world champion:

Young players will look at that and say ‘This is how to play, this is how to win’. Don’t hang around, don’t study every shot, watch the shot, look it up, trust your first instincts.

He’s the first player to drive from the front so relentlessly he can make a difference, maybe the old style will change slightly.

It’s great to see someone play arrogant snooker but also balance and push the game to new boundaries than we ever thought possible.

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