Mark Selby produced a strong display to beat John Higgins 10-5 and win the 2024 British Open title in Cheltenham on Sunday.
A swashbuckling opening session of snooker from both players saw them exchange three centuries and five more breaks of 60 or higher.
After sharing the first four frames to go into the first mid-session interval locked at 2-2, Selby subsequently compiled runs of 137, 135, and 88 to establish a 5-3 advantage.
The scoring wasn’t so relentless when play resumed for the evening session, but once more they shared the opening salvo to maintain the two-frame cushion.
When they returned from the final mid-session interval, Selby crucially moved three frames clear.
The 42 year-old didn’t stutter with the winning line in sight, duly contributing breaks of 91 and 93 to power home to victory.
Success brings Selby a 23rd career ranking title and a first in 18 months since winning last year’s WST Classic.
The £100,000 champion’s cheque will see the Leicester man return to the top four in the world rankings, while the triumph also broke his hoodoo of having failed to ever win a tournament in which ITV was the host broadcaster.
There were some indications that his victory this week was already written in the stars, Selby coming through his first four matches in deciding frames and twice on the final black.
He duly saved his best snooker for when it mattered the most during the weekend to become the first person to lift the Clive Everton Trophy since the passing of the legendary snooker journalist and commentator a few days ago.
“It’s great. To beat John in any final is a great achievement,” Mark Selby told the World Snooker Tour.
“The way I played from start to finish today was really pleasing. The first session was incredible, neither of us hardly missed a pot.”
“I got to the hotel and looked at the stats – I was on 98% and he was on 96%. It wasn’t as good tonight, but it was still very, very close.
“I’ve been struggling for a little while. Even in the early part of this tournament, I didn’t play fantastic, I was just scraping through.
“But then towards the back end of the tournament, I seemed to play a lot better.”
Defeat for Higgins, meanwhile, was a fifth in a row when in a ranking event final, and the Scot’s quest for a 32nd ranking title goes on.
It was a disappointing climax to an otherwise strong event, with Higgins immediately returning to the top 16 in the world rankings having briefly dropped outside the elite bracket a week ago.
The 2024 British Open belongs to Mark Selby, however, who will head into a busy period on the calendar with renewed confidence in his game.
2024 British Open
Selected Results
Last 16
John Higgins 4-0 Rory Thor
David Gilbert 4-3 Lyu Haotian
Oliver Lines 4-1 Stan Moody
Judd Trump 4-2 Stephen Maguire
Mark Allen 4-3 Chris Wakelin
Jak Jones 4-2 Luca Brecel
Elliot Slessor 4-2 Kyren Wilson
Mark Selby 4-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Quarter-Finals
Oliver Lines 5-4 Jak Jones
Mark Selby 5-4 David Gilbert
Mark Allen 5-3 Judd Trump
John Higgins 5-1 Elliot Slessor
Semi-Finals
Mark Selby 6-3 Mark Allen
John Higgins 6-0 Oliver Lines
Final
Mark Selby 10-5 John Higgins
Featured photo credit: WST
