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)

[30 April 2023 15:01 · Lawrence Ostlere]

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-4 Brecel

Selby doesn’t get the snooker he requires, and Brecel puts away the final red with a long thin cut to restore his three-frame lead.

[30 April 2023 14:57 · Lawrence Ostlere]

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-3 Brecel

Brecel does indeed rack up a score and has 71 points on the board when the break ends – Mark Selby comes back to the table needing snookers.

[30 April 2023 14:50 · Lawrence Ostlere]

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-3 Brecel

Brecel tries to pot a long red to the green pocket and misses to leave Selby a tempting one that requires a little swerve of the cue ball to navigate the route between blue and green – Selby boldy attempts it, and misses, and Brecel is left with a simple red to begin a potentially telling break in this fifth frame.

[30 April 2023 14:45 · Lawrence Ostlere]

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-3 Brecel

The players are back out on the Crucible floor. Selby pots a long red but isn’t on a colour, and a safety exchange begins.

[30 April 2023 14:38 · Lawrence Ostlere]

World Snooker Championship final

Is Selby feeling a hangover from that epic semi-final battle with Mark Allen?

[30 April 2023 14:35 · Lawrence Ostlere]

World Snooker Championship final

We join the action at the first mid-session interval, and it has been a blistering start by Luca Brecel. A break of 77 quickly polished off the first frame, and he put on a flowing 90 to make it 3-0 before Selby snatched the last after a missed red by Brecel – pretty much his only mistep of the four frames. So it’s Selby 1-3 Brecel, first to 18, and it’s all to play for.

[30 April 2023 14:28 · Lawrence Ostlere]

World Snooker Championship final

Mark Selby and Luca Brecel are battling to become the 2023 snooker world champion at the Crucble Theatre.

Selby saw off Mark Allen in a slugfest on Saturday night while Brecel pulled off a stunning comeback to knock out China’s Si Jiahui.

Selby has four world titles to his name and could become only the fourth player in the Crucible era to win a fifth, following in the path of Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan. A fifth crown would cement Selby as one of the greats of the game, but standing in his way is the supremely talented Belgian Brecel, who at 28 is starting to find the best form his career. Brecel despatched the pre-tournament favourite O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals and his confidence looks bullet-proof as he takes on the famously gritty Selby.

[30 April 2023 14:25 · Lawrence Ostlere]

World Snooker Championship final

Follow all the latest updates from the Crucible.