Selby wins his third Masters champion

London, Jan 21 (IANS) World No.1 Mark Selby won the Masters snooker tournament for the third time after beating defending champion Neil Robertson 10-6 in the final here.

Selby, who won the event in 2008 and 2010, jumped to an 8-3 lead in the first half Sunday and fought off a late surge from Robertson to seal the victory, reports Xinhua.

The 29-year-old won the UK Championship last month when he beat Shaun Murphy 10-6 in the final. He also became the first player to win two of snooker’s three prestigious events back-to-back since Mark Williams in 2002-2003.

He is expected to win a third at the World Championship to be held in Sheffield in April like Williams, who also won the world crown that season.

The title earned Selby a top prize of 175,000 pounds while Robertson’s second prize was worth 85,000 pounds.

“I was really happy with the way I played. I knew I had to play better and be more attacking. I seemed to do that in the first session. I was tired towards the end. This afternoon I felt fresh but tonight I felt it catching up with me. Thankfully I gave myself a good enough lead to have to something to mess about with,” said Selby.

“It’s just unbelievable at the moment. A few months ago I had the neck injury and I didn’t know if I was going to be playing again. Now I’m sitting here having won the UK and the Masters. I’ve got a great team around me at the moment and they’ve pulled me through.”

IANS 2013-01-21 12:12:02