Mark Selby claimed the 24th ranking title of his career with a hard-fought victory over Stephen Maguire in the final of the BetVictor Welsh Open.
The players could not be separated after the first 12 frames before Selby pulled away with the aid of breaks of 60 and 128 to seal a 9-6 win and secure the Ray Reardon Trophy and first prize of £100,000.
"Obviously delighted," Selby, who won his first ranking title in the same event in 2008, told Eurosport.
"The last three frames I played okay, but I felt like I had a lot of run of the ball at key times and that's the difference at this level.
"I’m my own worst critic, even when I’m playing okay I always think I’m not playing great but this week I’ve won a lot of key frames when I’ve been 40 or 50 behind and when it’s been a bit nip and tuck I’ve won quite a few of them.
"The last six to eight months I hadn’t been and that’s probably been the difference between me not going on a good run."
Maguire, who was contesting his first ranking final since 2020, said: "I had a good week, I’ve enjoyed myself and just came up short in the end.
"It’s a pity there was an interval there [at 6-6]. I never really saw a ball there in the last three frames until it was kind of done. All credit to Mark."
