World Snooker Championship 2016 Final: Sunday's Score and Revised Schedule
Mark Selby closed out the first day of World Snooker Championship final with a 10-7 lead over Ding Junhui, as the world No. 1 edged closer to being crowned king of the Crucible for the second time.
The Jester from Leicester led 6-2 after the first session on Sunday, and although Ding rallied to serve up the close-fought final we all expected, Selby still holds a precious advantage going into Monday's play.
Battle recommences at 2 p.m. BST on Monday.
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Second Session
Ding came into Sunday's second session off the back of two crucial frame wins to put him on the scoreboard earlier in the day, and he kept up the pressure on Selby by rattling off three out of the first four frames in the evening.
Selby emerged victorious from a scrappy first, before breaks of 76, 103 and 89 saw Ding reduce arrears to 7-5 deep into the night.
The world No. 1 responded with tactically perfect fifth frame of the session, yet Ding again had him looking over his shoulder courtesy of an 86 break.
At 8-6, the Chinese star again found himself among the balls and quickly over the half-century mark, yet a missed red on 55 allowed Selby back into the frame, but after a lengthy safety battle Ding closed the gap still further to 8-7.
Selby is the best in the business for a reason, though, and he regained his composure to win the final two frames of the session and lead 10-7.
As the final red dropped in the last frame of the evening, Selby looked visibly relieved and motivated, per World Snooker:
Although Selby leads by three, Ding proved on Sunday he has the game to trouble the Jester from Leicester. The standard of safety play in the final has been high so far, and that has made the match something of a marathon.
Selby is the master of grinding down opponents with imperious positional play, yet Ding has more than enough talent to build big breaks or play the Englishman at his own game.
It's all finely balanced ahead of Monday's two sessions, which kick off at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. BST.
First Session
Selby came racing out of the traps in the first frame of the final, and a 91 break was enough to get him off to the perfect start.
Ding put together a break of 52 to leave Selby needing a snooker in the second, but he got exactly that to steal the frame from the Chinese star.
Seven-time champion Stephen Hendry reflected on just how big a test the final is for Ding, per BBC Sport: “Mark Selby is becoming the ultimate long-session match player, it is going to be such a big test for Ding Junhui. It's just so tough to play against Selby.”
In the third frame, the pressure looked to have got to Ding again, as he missed a routine red while 43 points in front to hand Selby the chance to go 3-0 up—and he duly took it.
While Ding’s errors were costly, the world No. 1’s ruthlessness was still impressive, and Neil Robertson was one of many singing his praises:
Stunning breaks of 120 and 70 put Selby 5-0 to the good, before another scrappy frame went Selby’s way and left Ding with a mountain to climb.
In the sixth, it was Selby’s turn to get a little sloppy, as he let Ding in on several occasions and wasted the chance to go 7-0 up. Instead, Ding made it 6-1 and suddenly seemed to find his composure.
The Chinese player finally started to look himself in the eighth frame to close to 6-2, before making further inroads during the evening.
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