World Snooker Championship LIVE: Latest score updates as Luca Brecel leads Mark Selby in final

Mark Selby and Luca Brecel are battling to become the 2023 snooker world champion at the Crucible Theatre.

Selby saw off Mark Allen in a slugfest on Saturday night while Brecel pulled off a stunning comeback to knock out China’s Si Jiahui. And it was Brecel who started this final quicker, taking a 6-2 lead into this evening’s session.

Selby has four world titles to his name and could become only the fourth player in the Crucible era to win a fifth, following in the path of Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan. A fifth crown would cement Selby as one of the greats of the game, but standing in his way is the supremely talented Belgian Brecel, who at 28 is starting to find the best form his career. Brecel despatched the pre-tournament favourite O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals and his confidence looks bullet-proof as he takes on the famously gritty Selby.

Follow all the action from the Crucible Theatre with our live blog, below:

World Snooker Championship final

• End of first session: Mark Selby 2-6 Luca Brecel (best of 35 frames)

• Final resumes at 7pm BST

• Selby going for fifth world crown as Brecel targets first Crucible title

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 3-6 Brecel

19:35 , Lawrence Ostlere

A bizarre moment disrupts Brecel’s break in this 10th frame: he sends a red rolling gently towards the middle pocket and begins walking around the table for his next shot, but the red veers with the nap of the table and somehow misses by a distance. Brecel is stunned, and Selby comes to the table only 27 points behind.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 3-6 Brecel

19:25 , Mike Jones

Mark Selby starts the evening session in the best possible way. A century break sees him set a marker for the session to come and moves the world no. 2 within three frames of the Belgian.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 2-6 Brecel

19:21 , Lawrence Ostlere

An excellent start by Mark Selby, who immediately racks up a half-century to close in on this first frame of the evening session in double quick time. Just a couple more reds needed...

Watch: Luca Brecel’s fine blue decides tight sixth frame

18:54 , Lawrence Ostlere

This was one of the crucial moments of the opening session earlier today: at 4-1 up, Brecel came out on top of this safety exchange with a delicate cut of the blue to clinch it and take a four-frame lead. The pot looked almost impossible but he made the angle work:

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 2-6 Brecel

18:52 , Lawrence Ostlere

Good evening and thank you for joining us – the World Snooker Championship final resumes shortly at the Crucible Theatre. The first finallist from mainland Europe, Luca Brecel, leads the four-time champion Mark Selby 6-2 after making a blistering start earlier today.

Summary: Luca Brecel dominates opening session against Mark Selby

17:34 , Lawrence Ostlere

Comeback king Luca Brecel revelled in his new role as a front-runner after dominating the opening session of the World Snooker Championship final against four-time winner Mark Selby at the Crucible.

The Belgian, who reeled off seven straight frames to sink Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last eight and then 11 in a row to overcome Si Jiahui, continued his exhilarating progress as he soared into a 6-2 lead ahead of their resumption later on Sunday.

Full report on the afternoon session:

Luca Brecel dominates opening session of Crucible final against Mark Selby

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 2-6 Brecel

16:11 , Lawrence Ostlere

That’s a phenomenal first session by Luca Brecel. He has made this World Championship final look like he’s playing in his local club, performing with almost reckless abandon at times, and right now Selby has no answer to his opponent’s potting prowess.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 2-6 Brecel

15:58 , Lawrence Ostlere

So smooth and composed by Brecel, who manoeuvres the white around the table with apparent ease to take the frame as Selby watches on. Brecel will take a four-frame lead into tonight’s second session.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 2-5 Brecel

15:53 , Lawrence Ostlere

Selby gets the first few points on the board before missing a tricky red, and now Brecel is at the table. He pots red and black, then goes up the table to baulk to sweep up a couple of reds which ran loose. A good start, and this is a real chance.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 2-5 Brecel

15:47 , Lawrence Ostlere

Selby has to fight for just about every ball of his 62-point break, but then misses a relatively straightforward black to let Brecel back to the table needing a couple of snookers. Brecel seems frustrated, and he quickly gives up. That’s Selby’s frame, and there will be one more to wrap up this session.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-5 Brecel

15:39 , Lawrence Ostlere

Mark Selby gets a first look in this seventh frame, but he’s having to work hard with the pink down by the black spot making things awkward.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-5 Brecel

15:32 , Lawrence Ostlere

After a long, draining safety battle, Selby leaves the thinnest of snicks and Brecel takes it to pot the blue and clinch the frame. What a start to his first final by the Belgian, who is playing a thrilling brand of attacking snooker and holding his own in the safety exchanges too.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-4 Brecel

15:22 , Lawrence Ostlere

Selby comes unstuck trying to get from brown to blue and – with the scores at Selby 49-66 Brecel – a safety battle ensues on the blue. Every frame is crucial, of course, but this feels like a particularly significant moment in this opening session...

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-4 Brecel

15:18 , Lawrence Ostlere

Brecel can’t quite finish the job, though, and he lets Selby back to the table. The four-time champion puts away the last couple of reds and begins sweeping up the colours – he needs them all, and the pink is currently safe on the side cushion.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-4 Brecel

15:12 , Lawrence Ostlere

Selby then loses position after screwing off the black into the wrong red, and leaving himself a very tricky cut to the middle pocket which hits the near jaw. Brecel comes back to the table trailing by three points, 30-27. He buries a beautiful red to get started.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-4 Brecel

15:08 , Lawrence Ostlere

And yet, Brecel slightly loses control of the cue ball and misses a red using the rest – after his rest skills were given a big intro by John Virgo on commentary – and Mark Selby comes to the table with the balls well spread.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-4 Brecel

15:06 , Lawrence Ostlere

Wow, what a couple of shots these are. Luca Brecel first pots a red with a clever double across the middle of the table, then slams home the brown and top-spins the cue ball off one cushion into the pack to get himself on a red. The brown was absolutely cracked into the middle, a phenomenal pot.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-4 Brecel

15:01 , Lawrence Ostlere

Selby doesn’t get the snooker he requires, and Brecel puts away the final red with a long thin cut to restore his three-frame lead.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-3 Brecel

14:57 , Lawrence Ostlere

Brecel does indeed rack up a score and has 71 points on the board when the break ends – Mark Selby comes back to the table needing snookers.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-3 Brecel

14:50 , Lawrence Ostlere

Brecel tries to pot a long red to the green pocket and misses to leave Selby a tempting one that requires a little swerve of the cue ball to navigate the route between blue and green – Selby boldy attempts it, and misses, and Brecel is left with a simple red to begin a potentially telling break in this fifth frame.

World Snooker Championship final: Selby 1-3 Brecel

14:45 , Lawrence Ostlere

The players are back out on the Crucible floor. Selby pots a long red but isn’t on a colour, and a safety exchange begins.

World Snooker Championship final

14:38 , Lawrence Ostlere

Is Selby feeling a hangover from that epic semi-final battle with Mark Allen?

Mark Selby leaves it late to seal place in world final

World Snooker Championship final

14:35 , Lawrence Ostlere

We join the action at the first mid-session interval, and it has been a blistering start by Luca Brecel. A break of 77 quickly polished off the first frame, and he put on a flowing 90 to make it 3-0 before Selby snatched the last after a missed red by Brecel – pretty much his only mistep of the four frames. So it’s Selby 1-3 Brecel, first to 18, and it’s all to play for.

World Snooker Championship final

14:28 , Lawrence Ostlere

Mark Selby and Luca Brecel are battling to become the 2023 snooker world champion at the Crucble Theatre.

Selby saw off Mark Allen in a slugfest on Saturday night while Brecel pulled off a stunning comeback to knock out China’s Si Jiahui.

Selby has four world titles to his name and could become only the fourth player in the Crucible era to win a fifth, following in the path of Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan. A fifth crown would cement Selby as one of the greats of the game, but standing in his way is the supremely talented Belgian Brecel, who at 28 is starting to find the best form his career. Brecel despatched the pre-tournament favourite O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals and his confidence looks bullet-proof as he takes on the famously gritty Selby.

World Snooker Championship final

14:25 , Lawrence Ostlere

Follow all the latest updates from the Crucible.