Mark Selby claimed his fourth World Snooker Championship title on this day in 2021.
Selby beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 at the Crucible Theatre 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 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.”
The concluding sessions of the Championship saw a capacity crowd return to a major UK sporting event for the first time since March 2020 and the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
