Mark Selby won his fourth World Snooker Championship in front of a full capacity crowd at The Crucible on Monday night.
The 37-year-old defeated 2005 champion Dublin-based Shaun Murphy 18-15 in front of the Sheffield crowd.
Leicester native also won the game's most prestigious tournament in 2014, 16 and 17.
It wasn't a straightforward contst and the crowd certainly got their moneys worth with drama in the closing frames.
Selby led 14-11 prior to the final session before a fightback from Murphy to get to 17-15 at one stage.
Runs of 66, 68 and an excellent 120 though helped Selby break Murphy's resistance in the high-quality encounter.
Your 2021 @Betfred World Champion, Mark Selby! #ilovesnooker pic.twitter.com/Daaoy7pfc4
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) May 3, 2021
The success marks a 20th win in a ranking tournament for Selby.
Only four players in the modern era have won the World Championship more times than him.
Speaking to the BBC after the victory, Selby said he could only have ever dreamed of such an achievement.
"It’s absolutely incredible. Every time you get to a world final you always try your hardest – it’s such a tough tournament to get there and you never know whether it’s going to be your last.
"To win it once against Ronnie O’Sullivan for the first time was a dream come true – to win it four times is something I could only have dreamed of.
"I thought Shaun played fantastic all the way through the match.
"He’s a great, great player, a great ambassador for the game. I truly believe he’s back to where he was."
Selby also praised his coach Chris Henry for his role in the success.
"A few years ago I had some very, very dark days and times were tough. This has been a special one.
"Chris (Henry) has only been coaching me for a year - coming here last year I wasn't too confident and he got me to one frame away from the final and then working with him this year I've seen a massive difference in myself, especially self-belief.
"I was a little bit fragile before I got with Chris and he's worked wonders.
"My aim is to get back to world number one. You still have goals in your career. I'm going in the right direction."
