Selby denies Ding's first world title attempt

Mark Selby was crowned snooker world champion for the second time after an absorbing 18-14 victory over Ding Junhui at the World Snooker Championships World Final 2016. [Photo/IC]

Breaks of 52 and 68 then assured Selby would lead going into the concluding session. Ding pulled one back to close to within two before Selby ended the session with a break of 55.

Selby then took the first two frames of the evening session to go 16-11 in front thanks to contributions of 55 and 46.

Ding had a chance to close the gap in the next at 60-31 up but Selby doubled a red into the middle pocket and then, with the scores level at 60-60, produced a superb thin cut on the last black.

However, Ding then produced a well-complied break of 73, although that still left him 12-16 behind.

But the resilient Ding then cut the deficit even further with a break of 70 before a superb contribution of 103, where he several times produced brilliant recovery shots, meant he'd won three frames in a row and stopped Selby potting a ball for nearly an hour.

Now Ding was just two frames behind at 14-16.

The next frame lasted nearly an hour but Selby won it 59-11 before a break of 74 in the 32nd completed his march to the title.