World Snooker Championship LIVE: Score and result as Luca Brecel holds off Mark Selby to win maiden title

Four-time world champion Mark Selby couldn’t stop mercurial Belgian Luca Brecel from winning the World Championship final at the Crucible

Protester covers snooker table in orange powder during World Championships

Luca Brecel beat Mark Selby to become the first ever snooker world champion from mainland Europe.

The ‘Belgian Bullet’ resisted a sensational comeback effort by Selby to win his maiden title aged 28. He got the first chance in the last frame after a mistake by Selby and he duly posted his fifth century of the match, a brilliant 112, to seal an 18-15 victory.

“It was so tough,” said Brecel. “He’s the worst opponent to have in a final! He keeps coming back, he’s such a fighter. I don’t know how I did it.”

Relive all the action from the Crucible Theatre in our live blog, below:

World Snooker Championship final

• Mark Selby beaten by Luca Brecel in World Snooker Championship final
• RESULT: Mark Selby 15-18 Luca Brecel (best of 35 frames)

[1 May 2023 22:03 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 15-17 Brecel

The Belgian eases into the 30s but his cannon into the back doesn’t give him an awful lot of opportunities. There is one and it’s beautifully played using the rest and guided into the bottom-right pocket.

Getting close now...

[1 May 2023 22:00 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 15-17 Brecel

Selby blinks first after a cagey start to this 33rd frame...and Brecel takes full advantage. Slots the red and then a perfect effort on the pink up into the left middle. This is the Luca Brecel we’re used to.

[1 May 2023 21:53 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 15-17 Brecel - Brecel one away from world title

Selby needs two snookers to try and rescue this frame but he leaves a red over the pocket as he attempts a cute shot on a red that was resting against the bottom cushion.

Brecel duly obliges, knocks it in and secures his first frame of the evening. He needs just one more to win the World Championship.

[1 May 2023 21:47 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 15-16 Brecel

Another confidence-building long-range pot from Brecel who has to settle with just the one point as he nestles the cue ball up on the baulk cushion. Work to do for Selby in this frame...and he gets so lucky! He catches his safety attempt thick but the red cannons off another red and drops into the bottom-right pocket.

But just as quickly he hands back the advantage with a poor miss of the brown with the very next shot. Is the four-time champion now the one getting nervy?

[1 May 2023 21:43 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 15-16 Brecel

The Belgian runs out of options and can’t quite generate a good enough position with the screw off the black but it’s a much needed break of 51 and surely a huge confidence boost to Brecel. Can he now go on and convert his 50-point lead.

[1 May 2023 21:37 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 15-16 Brecel

Selby has been near fautless so far this evening but that’s a poor miss on the black after that first red pot of the frame. Brecel finally gets a chance and pots a red for what feels like the first time in an age. He splits the pack nicely off the blue and he’s up into the 20s.

Could this finally be the frame for the Belgian Bullet?

[1 May 2023 21:34 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 15-16 Brecel - Selby within one

Selby takes care of business and builds an insurmountable lead in the frame to move within one. A quite remarkable evening session so far from the four-time champion who has now won five frames on the spin.

A familiar start greats the 32nd frame as Brecel is miles off with an early long-range red attempt.

[1 May 2023 21:29 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 14-16 Brecel

Selby wins the battle of the safeties and Brecel patience runs short. It’s another poor effort on a red from the Belgian Bullet and he sets up a regulation red for ‘The Jester’. A noticeable exhale as Brecel returned to the chair and Selby now races into the 60s.

The Belgian has not potted a ball for 50 minutes now...and it’s only a matter of time till he’s only one frame ahead. How the tables have turned.

[1 May 2023 21:24 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 14-16 Brecel

Selby eventually runs out of scoring red options as he fails to effectively split the pack again. He settles for a break of 43 with a safety shot - can Brecel now find a way back into the frame?

[1 May 2023 21:20 · Ben Fleming]

Selby 14-16 Brecel

When it’s going your way, it really is going your way. Selby’s first shot of the frame sees him catch a red thick but it deflects off the black and nestles into the bottom-left pocket. He screws the white into the pack a few shots later to create some more scoring opportunities and this break is already into the 20s.