German Masters: World champion Mark Selby beats Shaun Murphy in final
Last Updated: 08/02/15 11:28pm
World champion Mark Selby edged out Shaun Murphy 9-7 in a thrilling final in Berlin to win the German Masters.
Selby was without a ranking title since his heroics at the World Championship last year, and was up against a player in red-hot form after Murphy's recent Masters victory in London.
Murphy the 32-year-old world number 10, stormed into a 5-2 lead and looked very comfortable at the table.
But the 31-year-old Selby stepped up several gears and secured five successive frames to stun his opponent.
Back came Murphy to level at 7-7, only for the 'Jester from Leicester' to stay cool and wrap up victory with the next two frames and finish the week at the top of the world rankings.
The guy's a world champion and he's a credit to our sport. We're lucky to have him
Murphy on Selby
"It's fantastic to get a win under my belt," Selby told Eurosport.
"Winning the World Championship did put a lot of weight on my shoulders. I did feel a lot more pressure to win tournaments. It's nice to get one out of the way."
The 2012 UK champion admitted he had been rusty at the start of the tournament owing to jet lag and not playing for two weeks.
"For the first few matches here, I was battling through," he added. "For two or three frames tonight, I don't think anyone could touch Shaun.
"But I played well at the start of the evening session, and that helped me going into the last few frames."
Murphy arrived in Germany in fine form and looked set for a fifth title in 12 months, but seemed to wobble after losing the final frame of the afternoon and then the first four in the evening session.
"Losing the first four frames tonight wasn't in my script, but the guy's a world champion and he's a credit to our sport," Murphy said. "We're lucky to have him."
