On This Day in 2021: Mark Selby wins another World Championship title

Selby beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 at the Crucible in Sheffield to collect £500,000 in prize money.

Mark Selby won the 2021 World Snooker Championships (Zac Goodwin/PA) (PA Archive)

Mark Selby claimed his fourth World Snooker Championship title on this day in 2021.

Selby beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 at the Crucible in Sheffield to collect £500,000 in prize money.

A fourth world triumph took 37-year-old Selby to within three Crucible crowns of Stephen Hendry’s record of seven.

“To win it once against Ronnie O’Sullivan for the first time was a dream come true,” Selby said.

“To win it four times is something I could only have dreamed of. Every time you get to a world final you always try your hardest.

“It’s such a tough tournament to get there and you never know whether it’s going to be your last.”

Murphy’s resolve in a high-quality encounter was finally ended by Selby’s breaks of 66, 68 and 120.

“Mark is super-granite, unfortunately for me,” Murphy said. “I started well but he went into super-hard mode.”