Selby Surges To Lead Final

Mark Selby has won nine of the last ten frames to earn a 13-11 advantage over John Higgins going into the last session of the 2017 Betfred World Championship final.

Higgins had looked set to establish a large overnight lead, but was pegged back to 10-7 after Selby fought to take the final three frames of the second session. The defending champion continued his winning streak when they got underway this afternoon.

The session was characterised by tense hard fought snooker, but unlike yesterday it was Selby who was getting the upper hand in the tactical exchanges.

Runs of 47 and 49 were enough for the Jester to take the first frame of the afternoon. He then won his fifth frame on the bounce before Higgins stopped the rot with a contribution of 78 to lead 11-9. However, Selby crucially claimed a 44-minute 21st frame to edge back within one at the mid-session.

When they returned a break of 67 helped him to restore parity and a run of 58 in the next saw him take the lead for the first time in 20 frames. The world number one crafted a contribution of 72 to finish  with 222 unanswered points and lead 13-11 going into this evening’s final session. They resume at 7pm.