UK Championship: Selby beats O'Sullivan in final

In a match that peaked with a jaw-dropping stretch of play in the evening session that included three consecutive total clearances, Selby emerged a 10-7 winner.

As he lifted the trophy at the York Barbican, the 33-year-old from Leicester became the sixth player in the sport's history to secure the World Championship and UK titles in the same calendar year.

He joins illustrious company there in O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, John Parrott and John Higgins, and as champion collects £170,000.

Come the end of the match there was no doubting Selby's relief, having seen a 7-2 lead slashed to 8-7 by a spell of vintage O'Sullivan break-building.

The five-time UK champion ploughed in breaks of 56, 80, 134, 130 and 82 to ask the question of Selby, but the challenge drew a rousing response.

O'Sullivan's two centuries in that streak had come either side of a 137 from Selby, with all three being total clearances.

The next ton came from Selby though, speaking volumes of his temperament as he made 134 to power one frame away from the winning line.

And after a cagey start to the next, Selby slotted a long red to set up a match-clinching 107, pointing to wife Vikki in the crowd as he sank the ball that made sure of another major piece of silverware.

Selby added: "He put me under pressure, asked the questions and I was really pleased with how I held up at the end.

"I tried to stay in the moment, not get too far ahead of myself."

O'Sullivan was hailed as "the best player in the world by far" earlier in the week by former UK champion Matthew Stevens, but Selby now has ample evidence to pick apart that argument.

A 95th consecutive week at number one begins for Selby on Monday, and this was his 10th ranking title. He is almost certain to remain at the top through to the World Championship in April, even if he fails to win another match before then.

Victory also meant he is now a multiple winner of all three of snooker's Triple Crown events - after two Crucible triumphs and three Masters successes.

"To win the three majors is a great feeling but to do it twice is even better," Selby said. "If I never won another tournament I'd be happy with my achievements."

O'Sullivan said: "It's a fantastic night for him.

"I scored all right but I missed too many easy balls.

"I think I did all right considering he's world number one and so far ahead of everyone else."

While it was far from pleasant to be outmanoeuvred by the man he described in a 2013 memoir as 'The Torturer', O'Sullivan knew what was coming.

Damien Hirst, the Britart multi-millionaire and friend of O'Sullivan, arrived after the third frame of the afternoon.

But Hirst, who has watched many of O'Sullivan's greatest wins, this time had to sit and suffer with fellow supporters of the 'Rocket'.

Selby promised to celebrate long into the night, just as he did on landing his first UK title four years ago.

"I'm having flashbacks to 2012," Selby said. "I strolled out of the after-party at 7.30 in the morning, went back to the hotel and went and had breakfast with nine or 10 other families, then went back to the room to get two hours' sleep.

"I woke up at 10 o'clock and thought 'I'll go down for some breakfast', and the woman in the dining room told me I'd already been down and I didn't believe her. It may be similar tonight." 

UK Championship 2016 Daily Results

Tuesday November 22
Afternoon Session (1430)
First Round (Best of 11 frames)
Ding Junhui 6-5 Igor Figueiredo (Match 17)
Joe Swail 5-6 Ross Muir (Match 18)
Rory McLeod 6-3 Jak Jones (Match 27)
Marco Fu 6-2 Josh Boileau (Match 28)
Barry Hawkins 6-0 David John (Match 37)
Fergal O'Brien 6-2 Zhang Yong (Match 38)
Ryan Day 6-2 Jimmy White (Match 55)
Kurt Maflin 6-0 Allan Taylor (Match 56)

Evening Session (1930)
First Round (Best of 11 frames)
Oliver Lines 6-5 Martin O'Donnell (Match 31)
Judd Trump 6-2 James Wattana (Match 32)
Tian Pengfei 2-6 Zhang Anda (Match 57)
Anthony McGill 6-5 Craig Steadman (Match 58)
Sam Baird 6-2 Sean O'Sullivan (Match 59)
Kyren Wilson 3-6 Mitchell Mann (Match 60)
Zhou Yuelong 6-3 Duane Jones (Match 41)
Michael Holt 6-2 Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (Match 42)

Wednesday November 23
Morning Session (0930)
First Round (Best of 11 frames)
Jack Lisowski 5-6 Mei Xi Wen (Match 25)
Martin Gould 6-2 Gareth Allen (Match 26)
Stuart Carrington 5-6 Yan Bingtao (Match 43)
Liang Wenbo 6-1 Kurt Dunham (Match 44)
John Higgins 6-3 Alex Borg (Match 49)
Ken Doherty 0-6 Noppon Saengkham (Match 50)
Ben Woollaston 6-5 Elliot Slessor (Match 51)
Gary Wilson 3-6 Paul S Davison (Match 52)

Afternoon Session (1430)
First Round (Best of 11 frames)
Ricky Walden 6-0  Fang Xiongman (Match 7)
Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-6 Scott Donaldson (Match 8)
Robin Hull 6-1 Jamie Cope (Match 47)
Shaun Murphy 6-3 Itaro Santos (Match 48)
Luca Brecel 6-0 Aditya Mehta (Match 35)
Mark King 2-6 Sam Craigie (Match 36)
Tom Ford 5-6 Hammad Miah (Match 61)
Robert Milkins 6-1 Hamza Akbar (Match 62)

Evening Session (1930)
First Round (Best of 11 frames)
Mike Dunn 6-1 Darryl Hill (Match 13)
Matthew Selt 2-6 Michael Georgiou (Match 14)
Li Hang 5-6 Rhys Clark (Match 15)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-0 Boonyarit Keattikun (Match 16)
David Gilbert 6-2 Adam Duffy (Match 23)
Mark Joyce 6-3 Lee Walker (Match 24)
Mark Allen 6-4 Chen Zhe (Match 53)
Rod Lawler 6-3 Anthony Hamilton (Match 54)

Thursday November 24
Morning Session (0930)
First Round (Best of 11 frames)
Mark Williams 6-1 Jason Weston (Match 5)
Andrew Higginson 6-4 Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Match 6)
Ali Carter 6-1 Christopher Keogan (Match 21)
Robbie Williams 6-1  Akani Songsermsawad (Match 22)
Stephen Maguire 6-1 Cao Yupeng (Match 39)
David Grace 2-6 Zhao Xintong (Match 40)
Dominic Dale 6-5 Sanderson Lam (Match 45)
Graeme Dott 6-1 Ian Preece (Match 46)

Afternoon Session (1430)
First Round (Best of 11 frames)
Ian Burns 5-6 Daniel Wells (Match 63)
Mark Selby 6-1 Andy Hicks (Match 64)
Stuart Bingham 6-0 Adam Stefanow (Match 33)
Yu De Lu 6-3 Nigel Bond (Match 34)
Alan McManus 6-5 Michael Wild (Match 19)
Jamie Jones 6-1 Eden Sharav (Match 20)
Jimmy Robertson 6-0 Thor Chaun Leong (Match 29)
Mark Davis 6-3 Sydney Wilson (Match 30)

Evening Session (1930)
First Round (Best of 11 frames)
Neil Robertson 3-6 Peter Lines (Match 1)
Alfie Burden 2-6 Chris Wakelin (Match 2)
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-6 Liam Highfield (Match 3)
Peter Ebdon 5-6 Wang Yuchen (Match 4)
Matthew Stevens 6-1 James Cahill (Match 9)
Michael White 6-5 Fraser Patrick (Match 10)
Xiao Guodong 6-3 John J Astley (Match 11)
Joe Perry 6-3 Jamie Curtis-Barrett (Match 12)

Friday November 25
No PlaySaturday November 26
Afternoon Session (1300)
Second Round (Best of 11 frames)
Liam Highfield 6-5 Wang Yuchen (Match 66)
Mark Williams 6-2 Andrew Higginson (Match 67)
Mike Dunn 4-6 Michael Georgiou (Match 71)
Luca Brecel 6-5 Sam Craigie (Match 82)
Stephen Maguire 6-2 Zhao Xintong (Match 84)
Dominic Dale 6-3 Graeme Dott (Match 87)
John Higgins 6-4 Noppon Saengkham (Match 89)
Daniel Wells 4-6 Mark Selby (Match 96)

Evening Session (1900)
Second Round (Best of 11 frames)
Peter Lines 6-4 Chris Wakelin (Match 65)
Matthew Stevens 6-4 Michael White (Match 69)
Alan McManus 2-6 Jamie Jones (Match 74)
Ali Carter 6-2 Robbie Williams (Match 75)
Stuart Bingham 4-6 Yu De Lu (Match 81)
Barry Hawkins 5-6 Fergal O'Brien (Match 83)
Zhou Yuelong 6-1 Michael Holt (Match 85)
Sam Baird 2-6 Mitchell Mann (Match 94)

Sunday November 27
Afternoon Session (1300)
Second Round (Best of 11 frames)
Rhys Clark 0-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match 72)
Ding Junhui 6-2 Ross Muir (Match 73)
David Gilbert 6-2 Mark Joyce (Match 76)
Mei Xi Wen 6-3 Martin Gould (Match 77)
Yan Bingtao 6-4 Liang Wenbo (Match 86)
Ben Woollaston 6-4 Paul S Davison (Match 90)
Mark Allen 6-4 Rod Lawler (Match 91) * MARK ALLEN MAKES 147 BREAK
Hammad Miah 5-6 Robert Milkins (Match 95)

Evening Session (1900)
Second Round (Best of 11 frames)
Xiao Guodong 4-6 Joe Perry (Match 70)
Rory McLeod 0-6 Marco Fu (Match 78)
Jimmy Robertson 6-2 Mark Davis (Match 79)
Oliver Lines 6-2 Judd Trump (Match 80)
Robin Hull 3-6 Shaun Murphy (Match 88)
Ryan Day 6-2 Kurt Maflin (Match 92)
Zhang Anda 6-3 Anthony McGill (Match 93)

Monday November 28
Afternoon Session (1300)
Third Round (Best of 11 frames)
Peter Lines 2-6 Liam Highfield (Match 97)
Michael Georgiou 1-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match 100)
Ali Carter 5-6 David Gilbert (Match 102)
Robert Milkins 1-6 Mark Selby (Match 112)

Evening Session (1900)
Third Round (Best of 11 frames)
Mei Xi Wen 4-6 Marco Fu (Match 103)
Yu De Lu 1-6 Luca Brecel (Match 105)
Zhou Yuelong 6-5 Yan Bingtao (Match 107)
John Higgins 6-2 Ben Woollaston (Match 109)

Tuesday November 29
Afternoon Session (1300)
Third Round (Best of 11 frames)
Mark Williams 6-5 Ricky Walden (Match 98)
Matthew Stevens 6-2 Joe Perry (Match 99)
Jimmy Robertson 0-6 Oliver Lines (Match 104)
Dominic Dale 5-6 Shaun Murphy (Match 108)

Evening Session (1900)
Third Round (Best of 11 frames)
Ding Junhui 2-6 Jamie Jones (Match 101)
Fergal O'Brien 5-6 Stephen Maguire (Match 106)
Mark Allen 6-5 Ryan Day (Match 110)
Zhang Anda 6-3 Mitchell Mann (Match 111)

Wednesday November 30
Afternoon Session (1300)
Fourth Round (Best of 11 frames)
Matthew Stevens 2-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match 114)
Zhou Yuelong 2-6 Shaun Murphy (Match 118)

Evening Session (1900)
Fourth Round (Best of 11 frames)
Marco Fu 6-0 Oliver Lines (Match 116)
Zhang Anda 1-6 Mark Selby (Match 120)

Thursday December 1
Afternoon Session (1300)
Fourth Round (Best of 11 frames)
Jamie Jones 6-2 David Gilbert (Match 115)
John Higgins 6-3 Mark Allen (Match 119)

Evening Session (1900)
Fourth Round (Best of 11 frames)
Liam Highfield 5-6 Mark Williams (Match 113)
Luca Brecel 6-3 Stephen Maguire (Match 117)

Friday December 2
Afternoon Session (1300)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Luca Brecel 1-6 Shaun Murphy (QF3)
John Higgins 5-6 Mark Selby (QF4)

Evening Session (1900)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Mark Williams 2-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (QF1)
Jamie Jones 5-6 Marco Fu (QF2)

Saturday December 3
Afternoon Session (1300)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Shaun Murphy 2-6 Mark Selby (SF2)

Evening Session (1900)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-5 Marco Fu (SF1)

Sunday December 4
Afternoon Session (1300)
Final (Best of 19 frames)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 2-6 Mark Selby

Evening Session (1900)
Final (Best of 19 frames)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 7-10 Mark Selby