Mark Selby came out on top of a titanic battle against Mark Allen at World Snooker Championship last night, emerging victorious on a scoreline of 17-15 after a tense semi-final.
The match could certainly be classed as a 'war of attrition'. Not only did it almost go the full distance, but many of the frames were mentally taxing affairs, featuring long bouts of safety shots where no balls were potted.
In saying that, there was also some scintillating snooker played at times.
Selby was in a dominant position for much of last night's final session, at one point leading 16-10 and needing only one more frame to secure the victory. However, Allen would battle back by winning five frames on the spin and getting to within one of his opponent.
The Northern Ireland native produced some excellent shots during that run, although he did experience some misfortune earlier in the match.
Mark Allen cracks up Crucible crowd after unfortunate shot
In the 23rd frame of the match, a time when Selby held a 12-10 lead and the contest still very much in the balance, Mark Allen looked as though he was about to embark on a potentially crucial break.
He made an excellent shot on the red, leaving an easy pot on the blue into the middle pocket. He thought he had perfectly played for position on the reds from that shot, only for the ball to somehow end up nestled in behind the black and bringing an end to the break.
It was very unfortunate, and after a noise came from the crowd in the aftermath of the shot, he couldn't help but crack a joke at his own expense.
After a noise came from the crowd and the referee asked if it was a phone, Allen replied:
It's the police, because I got robbed there!
In fairness, you could understand his point.
To make matter worse, Mark Selby would go on to win that frame and the three that followed it, opening up what turned out to be an insurmountable lead despite a spirited comeback from his opponent.
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