Mark Selby battled back from 9-6 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-9 in the final of the PokerStars.com Masters at Wembley.
Second Masters title for 'Jester from Leicester'
Mark Selby battled back from 9-6 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-9 in the final of the PokerStars.com Masters at Wembley.
World number one O'Sullivan established a lead in the afternoon session that he did not relinquish until Selby won the penultimate frame to take the match into a decider.
Selby, winner here in 2008, has a reputation for winning deciding frames and again held his nerve impressively to claim the £150,000 prize money.
O'Sullivan had earlier eased himself into the contest after losing a scrappy opening frame.
The 34-year-old was disgusted with himself for a poor positional shot in the second frame but an unfortunate in-off from Selby led to a break of 56 for O'Sullivan to level the scores.
O'Sullivan then started moving through the gears, taking a lead with a break of 86, which started with an attacking blue to open up the reds early on in the frame.
Then came his first century of the final, including taking his last red left-handed - and the mid-session interval could not come quickly enough for Selby. However, after the returning from the dressing room O'Sullivan notched up a break of 101 to establish a three-frame lead.
It looked like O'Sullivan was in a hurry to wrap up victory but Selby doggedly replied with breaks of 86 and 112 to get within a frame of the defending champion.
Last year's final was level after the first session but O'Sullivan edged the eighth frame to establish his two-frame lead, at 5-3, this time around.
Pressure
But Selby refused to give in, taking the ninth to get within a frame of his opponent again. O'Sullivan knocked in 92 in reply but Selby's response was a break of 136, a run that included a pressure shot on a pink when he was tight to the middle-pocket knuckle.
Sensing the opportunity to level, Selby looked in control of the next frame but received a bad bounce off a cushion while playing for a pink, and O'Sullivan took advantage.
Selby showed fine temperament after that setback and fought back again with a 78 - but the match was following the pattern of O'Sullivan holding him at bay.
Breaks of 89 and 91 got O'Sullivan within sight of back-to-back titles - but Selby dug deep again with consecutive frames, including another century, to set up a thrilling finale at 9-8.
Then Selby took the final two frames of the match, making it four in a row, to take the title.
