Mark Selby Vs Ronnie O'Sullivan:
After a long period of safety with some early final nerves, Selby let Ronnie in for the first chance on what did look like an awkward table. O’Sullivan played the table expertly though, bringing reds out shot by shot and an extraordinary run of 69 was enough in the end for him to go 1-0 ahead. Mark Selby’s first chance came in frame two after a poor snooker escape from O’Sullivan, but a missed black on 9 going into reds cut his break far too short and left Ronnie an opening. Ronnie made 27 before his cannon into the reds didn’t leave him on one and he played safe. Mark missed a long shot straight away though to give O’Sullivan his second chance. An additional 37 was to prove enough for him to go 2-0 ahead. O’Sullivan had the first chance again in frame three after a Selby safety shot didn’t work out as planned. Ronnie looked to be showing the ruthless form he had throughout the event so far and a contribution of 102 put him 3-0 in front. A missed brown from Ronnie at the beginning of the fourth left Selby an early opening. An unsuccessful split on 25 left Selby without a pot on and he was forced into a safety shot. A long pot from O’Sullivan soon after though got him back scoring, but a mistake on 16 leaving him snookered on his intended red forced him into playing safe. A missed long red from Selby though left Ronnie another chance, but he didn’t add much before losing position again and that left Mark a chance. Selby cleared to the green to get his first frame on the board and make it 1-3 at the first mid-session interval.
After the break, both players had early chances, but Mark’s
next opening was a very good one, but one of the worst positional shots you’ll
see, to leave himself completely hampered on the black from a simple red ended
the break on just 23. Mark had the next chance as well though after being left
an easy long pot and this time but another bad miss ended the break prematurely
again. That left Ronnie an opening but the last three reds on the bottom
cushion looked like being the problem, and that’s where the safety battle began
with Selby 17 ahead with 51 remaining. When Ronnie’s chance came, he cleared
the final three reds but failed to land on the yellow so played safe with a 3
point advantage. Selby won the battle on the yellow and a clearance to the pink
gave him another frame back at 2-3. O’Sullivan had the first chance in the
sixth frame but he missed a tough black on 17, putting Selby in. He potted the
first red, and then went into the reds from the black over the corner, but the
cue ball ran up the table and that was end of break. An amazing red from range
gave O’Sullivan the next opportunity with all of the reds nicely spread, and he
took that opportunity to go 4-2 ahead with a beautiful break of 63. After a
long bout of safety at the start of frame seven, the first scoring visit came
from Selby, and it amounted to 28 before he went into the reds and was unlucky
not to have a shot on one. It wasn’t long before Selby had his next chance
though, but he missed a tough red on 10. He was back in again shortly after
though and this time he’d built up a lead of 48 with 67 on before playing safe
with the final five reds all safe, as well as the yellow, green and blue. Selby
potted the next red and laid a tough snooker, which O’Sullivan was unable to
get out of, leaving Ronnie needing a snooker which he couldn’t get so Selby had
now won three of the last four frames at 4-3 to O’Sullivan. In the final frame
of this session O’Sullivan had the best of the early scoring opportunities. He
made 38 before missing a relatively straightforward red, which left a chance
for Mark. Selby built a lead of 10 before playing safe on the final red. After
fluking the final red, Mark missed the black and left Ronnie a golden chance to
clear for the 5-3 lead which he took to punish the poor mistake from Selby.
The first proper scoring of the second session was done by
Ronnie O’Sullivan, but he missed a tough black on 10 and left a chance for
Selby and he accumulated 24 before missing a tough red himself to the middle.
Ronnie therefore was back at the table and scoring and a run of 40 left Mark
Selby only being able to clear for a re-spot with two reds remaining. Ronnie potted
the next red however, and was able to do enough to secure his 6-3 lead. A
magnificent pot to the baulk corner from O’Sullivan had him straight back
amongst the balls in frame ten. A break of 52 followed to put Ronnie in a
commanding position 57 ahead with 75 remaining. Mark Selby was able to get the
next chance to put some points together, and he cleared the remaining reds and
the yellow in a break of 42 before playing safe on the green which was on the
side cushion. However, it was O’Sullivan that eventually potted green and brown
to extend his lead to four frames at 7-3. After a fluke at the start of frame
eleven, Selby had a chance to build an early advantage in the frame, but he
could only make 18 from it and was really struggling to make big breaks so far
in this match. An unfortunate miss at a middle distance red on the stretch from
Selby, Ronnie was in again with an opening to build a commanding position. A break of 63 was enough for the Rocket to
make it four frames in a row and all three at the start of this session to lead
Selby 8-3. Mark did have a good opportunity at the start of the twelfth and he
made his highest break of the match so far, although when the run ended on 55
it still wasn’t a frame winner, leading by 56 with 67 available. A missed long
pot and in-off in one shot from Ronnie though did seal his fate and Mark pulled
a frame back to trail 4-8 at the mid-session break.
Following that interval, Selby was in first making a break
of 20 before he knocked a red in going into the pack from the black, but the
split wasn’t good anyway and nothing was left for O’Sullivan. When Selby got
the next chance a break of 43 should’ve been enough to win the frame, but some
snookers from Ronnie meant he could win again. Ronnie potted the final red but
when the green went in with it, Selby was left a free ball potting brown, to
get on the yellow and this time he did do enough to make it 5-8. A nicely
played red from range got O’Sullivan going again in frame fourteen, and after
some quality recovery pots, he was soon in prime position to win the frame in
one visit and he did that with a 131 total clearance to move four ahead at 9-5,
and guarantee a lead going into Bank Holiday Monday. Ronnie got in first in
frame fifteen too, and a good long blue early on kept his break going. Yet
again, O’Sullivan killed the frame off in one visit as a run of 87 made it 10-5
with two frames left in the session that you felt Selby really needed to win
both of. After a couple of failed attempts out of a snooker from O’Sullivan, it
was Selby that had the first scoring opportunity. He needed to make it count
but a break of 17 was simply not good enough. A fabulous long range red have
O’Sullivan the next opening but an uncharacteristic miss on the black on 9, let
Selby back in much quicker than he’d have expected. A run of 58 from this point
was more than enough for Selby to make it 6-10 with a frame to play in the
session, but he desperately needed to follow it up. After a long period of
safety and a missed long red from O’Sullivan in frame seventeen, all of a
sudden Selby had a golden opportunity to, at the very least, build a big lead.
Given the pressure on it and the amount of balls he had to knock in down the
bottom cushion, the break of 62 that followed was magnificent and more than
enough for Selby to escape from the session only three frames behind at 7-10.
As we entered the second day of the final, and the third
session of the match, a long pot from O’Sullivan got the scoring going for the
first time on the day. He managed 32 from his first visit before losing
position after failing to split into the pack nicely. After a long period of
safety sending reds up the table, it was O’Sullivan that made the mistake
giving Mark Selby his first opportunity of the day. From there Selby
manufactured a break of 59 which was enough for him to close the gap to just a
couple of frames now at 8-10. After giving away 22 points in fouls to Ronnie at
the start of frame nineteen, Selby had the first proper scoring visit but 11
was all he could before losing position. Mark had the next chance shortly after
and a break of 52 left O’Sullivan only being able to force a re-spot with three
reds left and when he missed a tough first black that was four frames in a row
for Selby to close to one behind at 9-10. After early chances for both players
in the twentieth frame, Mark looked to have a big opportunity with the reds
open after playing a good snooker behind the yellow. This time a contribution
of 74 put him back on terms with Ronnie in this match at 10-10. Both players
had early bites of the cherry early on in the final frame before the
mid-session break in a frame that turned very scrappy. Selby had the best
contribution in the middle of the frame with a break of 28 followed by a good
snooker behind the brown left Selby 27 ahead with 51 remaining. The next chance
went to Mark as well after a nice red from range gave him the chance with the
remaining reds in the middle of the table to kill off the frame. He missed the
final red however with a 34 point lead and just 35 left. O’Sullivan got the
better of the final red but needed the black to win the frame without getting
snookers and when he missed it that was frame over and a complete turnaround in
this final was complete as Selby from 5-10 had made it 11-10.
After the mid-session interval, Mark Selby pocketed the
first chance to build up some points, but a miss using the rest on 36, sent the
same chance over to Ronnie with the reds in decent positions. A break of 50 put
him in the driving seat, yet he was only 14 points in front when he missed the
final red, but he won the safety battle on it to go 22 points ahead on the
yellow. Both players had attempts at the yellow, but Ronnie missed the easiest
one and left everything on for Selby. The green shouldn’t have been a problem
for Selby but he missed it nonetheless, but Ronnie did too before a safety
battle on the green began. When a long green went in for Ronnie though, the
tensest frame of the match so far went to him as the match was levelled once again
at 11-11. Mark Selby had the first chance of frame twenty-three scoring 25
ahead of an unsuccessful cannon into the black and reds that saw the black fly
in. The Jester had the next opening as well and he added another 19 as the
frame started to turn a little scrappy. After a very long bout of safety,
Ronnie had the next opportunity he could only make 6 as Selby led by 31 with 67
remaining. A hit and hope snooker escape opened a lot of reds up for Ronnie to
chip away at Selby’s lead and he cleared the remaining reds and laid a snooker
behind the black to trail by 2 with 27 left on. Three misses out of the snooker
put O’Sullivan 10 ahead now. A brilliant long pot on the yellow, and some
earlier foul points left Selby 4 behind, but he won the battle on the green as
well to go 1 behind with 22 on. Pots on the brown and blue left Ronnie needing
a simple pink to the middle to win the frame but somehow he missed it and Selby
potted the pink and black, followed by a fist pump and a celebratory cue bang
as he knew how big that frame was, to go 12-11 in front at what became the end
of the session two frames early to give the players a fair break before the
evening session just an hour and a half away.
After a disappointing afternoon for O’Sullivan, he would’ve
been looking for something big to get him back on track at the start of the
final session. A brilliant long ball gave him that chance straight away and he
was into the reds on 20 getting the perfect split and a golden chance to win
the frame in one visit. A break of 100gave him the start he needed to level the
match at 12-12. A very well spotted plant from Selby got him underway in the
final session in frame twenty-five. Once into the bunch on 16 it looked like a
very good chance for Mark to find the perfect response to Ronnie’s ton.
However, he only managed 34 before losing position. A fantastic long pot gave
O’Sullivan the next attempt at trying to win the frame, but he failed to make
the cannon he wanted and his break ended on 24. A good snooker from Selby ended
up giving him the next chance and he didn’t need much more to win the frame,
but he missed frame ball pink. Eventually, Selby was able to pot the red he
needed to win the frame and go in front again at 13-12. A superbly cued red
from range gave Mark the first chance in the next but a missed brown cut him
short on 23. The next chance was O’Sullivan’s following a red into the baulk
corner, but awkward cueing on a tough black caused him to miss on 25. After a
long period of safety with the black covering one of the corner pockets, Mark
was left an opening but could only make 9 from it. It wasn’t long before he was
let back in again and he cleared the remaining reds to take the frame and give
himself a little bit of breathing space at 14-12. Mark had the first chance in
frame twenty-seven but could only make 23 before failing to land on one from
his split of the pack, and his next chance only amounted another 10 before
falling the same way. When a third opportunity was thrown his way, he knew he
had to take it and turned it into a frame winning chance as he made it three
frames in a row to lead 15-12 at the final mid-session interval and he was now
well into his stride in this match, as demonstrated by the latest break of 56.
The first chance from the break went to Ronnie after another
top quality long pot got him going, but he ran out of position on a colour on
30 and missed a very tough blue but was lucky to leave everything safe. Another
top quality red soon after to the middle got him back scoring and this time he
clinched the frame with a run of 49 making it 13-15. A superb long red under
pressure at the start of the next with all of the reds open, gave Selby a
golden opportunity to build a big lead. He left himself further away from his
intended red on 29 though and the miss left Ronnie the golden opportunity that
Mark had had, but the tension started to show when he missed a simple enough
yellow on 15. He added 18 before missing a very tough red to the middle,
leaving the Rocket in again. By now the table was looking very tricky for any
kind of clearance and it all came down to a safety battle on the final four
reds with Selby ahead by 24 points. Ronnie made the next red with the blue
before missing again, yet he quickly had another bite of the cherry and
fantastic pots on the final reds and the yellow allowed the defending champion
to clear and close the gap to just a frame at 14-15. Following the loss of the
last two frames, Mark would’ve been looking to steady the ship, and a good long
pot gave him that chance in frame thirty. When his split worked out nicely on
36, it looked like a perfect frame winning opening now. A beautiful
contribution of 127 allowed him to do just that and go two clear again at
16-14. O’Sullivan was first in the thirty-first frame but a split from the
green didn’t work out and he only managed 10 points from it. A mistake from
Ronnie soon after left the Jester a big opportunity to build up plenty of
points. He did exactly that again as he could sense the chance to try and kill
Ronnie off in this match and a superb break of 87 was enough to put him a frame
away from his first world title at 17-14. At the point of no return, Ronnie
O’Sullivan knew he had to produce something special and a pretty special long
pot got the ball rolling in the thirty-second, but he lost good black ball
position on just 15 and was forced into playing safe. An unlucky shot from
Selby in a tricky position left Ronnie the next opening as well, and he looked
in a good place to pull a frame back until a poor positional shot on 41 left
him 56 in front with just 67 left. Mark Selby had the next opportunity in this
frame with a brilliant pot down the top cushion, before a shot on the blue
sending the cue ball around the table and into the two reds by the pink was one
of the shots of the tournament and left him in a superb position. The final two
reds with the green on the bottom cushion looked like being an issue but a good
shot from the black brought the first of those out, but he missed it at a
tricky distance and the break was cut short on 22, trailing by 34 with 43 on. A
brilliant long pot saw Selby pot the first of the final two reds, but he
couldn’t get nicely on a colour to split the final red on the bottom cushion so
he laid a snooker trailing by 29 with 35 on. A brilliant pot came soon after
from Mark on the final red, leaving a good angle on the black to get on the
yellow as well. The green was still in an awkward position and it took superb
positional shots from yellow to green and then green to brown to keep the break
alive. Again a good shot was needed from blue to pink with the rest but he
played it to perfection and followed with pink and black to complete a superb
35 clearance and win the World Championship by beating Ronnie O’Sullivan which
of course got a brilliant reaction from Mark who was elated, along with his
family on the balcony. What a brilliant fight back it was from Selby to win
thirteen of the last seventeen frames in order to take the title and who knows
how many could be to come for Selby now. That match had everything including a turnaround on the second day that most people within the game wouldn't have thought possible after the opening day that Selby had had and his opponent in Ronnie O'Sullivan. Tomorrow then it's the finale as I reveal the winner of my classic matches of 2014 list, but who will take the spoils?
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