Luca Brecel 'not going to go wild' after Crucible triumph

Luca Brecel withstood a stirring fightback from Mark Selby to clinch a dramatic 18-15 victory and become the first player from mainland Europe to win the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible. Having clawed back outlandish deficits to sink both Ronnie O'Sullivan and Si Jiahui in the previous rounds, the brilliant 28-year-old switched roles to fend off a late surge by the four-time champion.

Resuming 9-8 in front after a first day when the headlines were hogged by Selby's historic maximum break, Brecel blasted four centuries in a blistering penultimate session to severely test his opponent's storied reputation for triumphing against the odds. Brecel proceeded to extend his lead to 16-10 but watched in increasing exasperation as Selby clawed back five in a row to threaten a dramatic finale before the Belgian edged one frame closer and then got over the line in style with his fifth century of the match.

"I just didn't fancy winning this final," Brecel admitted after picking up the winner's cheque worth £500,000. "I think it's been too long, too much pressure, too many late nights.

I had been behind in most of my games and I was expecting to go home against Ronnie and especially Si. "Today when Mark got back from 9-5 to 9-8 I felt like I'd lost it already.

I just didn't fancy winning but if you feel like that and you still produce those breaks, I feel like I deserve it." His victory made him the youngest winner since Shaun Murphy in 2005 and capped a remarkable if belated ascent from Brecel, whose outrageous promise as a junior had threatened to evaporate in a relatively frustrating few years on the professional circuit. And it was all the more remarkable in the context of Brecel's claims that he had come into the