Selby 11-16 Brecel
The Belgian’s safety does leave an opening for Selby which he takes with an impressive long pot. The white ends up behind the blue and Selby settles for a snooker but it’s a marvellous escape from Brecel firing it off two cushions, kissing the open red and settling on the cushion at the bottom of the table – beautifully played.
Selby 11-16 Brecel
Right after that great frame, it’s a poor break-off from Selby as he catches the blue. Brecel takes full advantage and again pots the frame’s opening red. He can’t quite split the reds enough with his cannon and he opts for a safety after a break of 16.
Selby 11-16 Brecel – one back for Selby
He can take advantage! Much has been made of Brecel’s shotmaking this final but that’s some of the best we’ve seen today from Selby. He’s sent all round the board chasing the reds and screws another off the black to further split reds.
His break ends on the blue but he has done enough with a break of 78 to win the frame and it’s a much-needed one at that.
Selby 10-16 Brecel
Brecel produces a glorious double into the middle pocket and a tidy cut-back but doesn’t get lucky with the cue ball both times. On the latter occasion he tries an audacious cross-table blue effort which goes awry and Selby comes back to the table and takes advantage – he moves into the 20s and a cannon into the pack splits the reds nicely for the Englishman. Can he take full advantage?
Selby 10-16 Brecel
Brecel fires in the opening red again with a lovely cut into the middle-left pocket but a poor miss follows on the next red and it’s just six points acrued by the Belgian. Selby misses out on a long-range red up the table but there’s nothing available for Brecel.
Selby 10-16 Brecel – Luca off to a flyer
Brecel hoovers up the easy reds but soon finds himself short of options. Not to worry as it’s a glorious shot on the brown which works the cue ball around the table and back into prime position. He eventually settles for a safety and a break of 67.
Selby needs two snookers and starts with a lovely pair of pots on red and black but a poor miss follows and the Englishman concedes the frame.
Two more to go for Brecel and he’s showing no signs of slowing down…
Selby 10-15 Brecel
Brecel begins the evening session right where he left off this afternoon. Selby gives him a sniff with an average safety and the Belgian takes full advantage with a sumptuous long pot into the bottom-left pocket for the first red of the frame.
Selby 10-15 Brecel
The players are out and a reminder of what is at stake.
Luca Brecel had never won a match at the Crucible prior to this year. Now the Belgian is just three frames away from Snooker’s greatest prize and the chance to become mainland Europe’s first World Champion.
Mark Selby yesterday became the first person to hit a 147 break in the final of the World Championships and will now target a remarkable comeback in this final session to win his fifth world title.
The handshakes are done and Selby gets us going…
Selby 10-15 Brecel
And we are back! What an evening we have in store and the start of the final session is fast approaching.
If you’re just tuning in, then you missed a marvellous afternoon session earlier in the day at The Crucible which left Luca Brecel on the verge of his maiden World Championship title.
The Belgian Bullet won six frames out of eight with four century breaks meaning he now needs just three frames in this final session to triumph over four-time champion Mark Selby.
Having won the opening four frames on the spin, Brecel was pegged back after the mid-session interval with Selby winning back-to-back frames. But the final two frames and session overall belonged to Brecel who won the last two frames in superb style to move ever closer to a shock win.
World Snooker Championship prize money: Rewards for winner, runner-up, highest break and 147
Luca Brecel and Mark Selby are fighting it out to win the 2023 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, with a huge paycheque on the line.
Selby already has some money secured this year after scoring a famous maximum 147 break – the first time it has ever been done in a Crucible final. He will share the prize for a 147 as well as the tournament’s highest break reward with Kyren Wilson, who also pulled off the feat in the first round.
The four-time world champion Selby has won £7.2m in career prize money so far while Brecel has won £1.3m, according to Cuetracker.
Find out the full prize money for the World Championship:
What is the World Snooker Championship prize money?
Mark Selby hit a 147 in the final to secure a share of the £40,000 prize money for producing a maximum
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