FOR the winner of the World Snooker Championship, jubilation and celebration are always mixed with a sense of relief.
Once that final ball is potted, the last battle of wits comes to an end, and the weight of weeks of unflinching concentration is lifted, even the most steely snooker face can’t help but crack a smile.
For 2021 World Snooker Champion Mark Selby, these emotions were manifested in his final clearance on Sunday night.
After Shaun Murphy missed a red along the cushion with the score at 57-38 in his favour, Selby sauntered around the table producing snooker of the highest quality.
Top 10 snooker world champions of all time - where does four-time winner Mark Selby feature?
Selby s triumph sees him join John Higgins on four world titles, but where does he rank in the all-time top 10 - and who comes out on top?
4 May 2021 • 9:48am
Mark Selby, Ronnie O Sullivan and Judd Trump all feature
Mark Selby claimed his fourth World Snooker Championship with a gripping 18-15 victory over Shaun Murphy on Monday night. The triumph means Selby joins John Higgins on four titles - and only four players in the modern era have won more.
But where does Selby stand in the pantheon of all-time greats - and who comes out on top? Telegraph Sport runs the rule over the top 10.
Last modified on Tue 4 May 2021 01.39 EDT
Top story: Local elections campaigning heats up
Hello, I’m Warren Murray back with Tuesday’s news.
The UK still has a system that allows power to be abused, Keir Starmer has said, pledging that the Labour party will “clean up our politics”. In the final days before polls close for local, mayoral, Welsh and Scottish elections, the Labour leader will attempt to draw a close connection between the stories of Tory sleaze and their effect on ordinary people. Labour sources said Starmer would link the row over Boris Johnson’s lavish Downing St refurbishments to the early days of the pandemic and question whether the prime minister was distracted as he apparently sought donors to sponsor the decorations, which he has now funded himself.
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image captionBlossoms headlined a large festival at Sefton Park on Sunday
Liverpool s public health boss has said he is confident the large-crowd event experiments in the city will prove to be a success and help reopen society.
Crowds enjoyed a music festival, two club nights and a business conference with no masks or social distancing.
While data is yet to be fully analysed, Matt Ashton said he did not believe the weekend s events would lead to a spike in Covid cases.
It was part of the government s plan to test reopening large gatherings.
Mr Ashton said there would be big lessons learned from the events, which would hopefully speed up the reopening of this important part of our economy .