Mark Selby had waited seven long years to get the monkey off his back. Ever since reaching the World Snooker Championship final in 2007, where he ultimately lost to John Higgins, the man nicknamed 'The Jester from Leicester' had been tipped for world glory.
As the years rolled by it looked as though Selby wasn't going to achieve his dream of becoming a world champion, but that all changed on bank holiday Monday at just after quarter past ten when he sealed a fantastic 18-14 win over the five time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.
World titles don't come easy and boy did Selby have to fight tooth and nail to collect the trophy and the winner's cheque for £300,000. O'Sullivan who was looking for a third consecutive title at the crucible came out like a train during Sunday afternoon's first session and raced into a three nil lead which included breaks of 102 and 69.
Selby on the other hand wasn't at the races and looked tired from his efforts in getting through 17-15 against Neil Robertson in the semi-final the previous night. However, Selby hadn't won three Masters titles and a UK Championship since that final appearance in 2007 without showing some true grit.
Slowly but surely he got to grips with the occasion and the match but was still playing nowhere near his best. All credit then that thanks to some grinding safety play and taking some half chances, that he got out of the first session only 5-3 down, and indeed he missed a glorious opportunity to make it 4-4.
However, O'Sullivan still looked very focused in the evening session as two half century breaks in three frames allowed him to build a commanding 8-3 lead before Selby won the next two.
The killer moment seemed to have come when O'Sullivan at his ruthless best rattled off two frames in no time to move into double figures with a 10-5 lead and as six time champion Steve Davis said in the BBC studio, O'Sullivan was winning two frames to Selby's one at that point. There looked no way back for him against a man looking to match Davis's six titles.
It turns out Mark Selby hadn't read the script for the World Snooker final of 2014. Playing what some shamefully described as "anti-snooker"- I thought of it as extremely clever- Selby kept himself in the hunt by winning the last two frames of the evening session to close the gap to 10-7 overnight.
And whilst most people were off work on Monday, Selby was like a man possessed at the crucible table doing his job. O'Sullivan was clearly rattled when Selby went ahead for the first time at 11-10. This was a situation O'Sullivan had never faced before; being behind in a world final. Would Selby be ruthless or would O'Sullivan fight back?
It looked odds on as though O'Sullivan would go 12-11 up heading into the final session but he inexplicably missed a pink in the final frame of the afternoon that frankly some pub players would have made.
And from then on, it didn't look as though the man from Leicester was going to let go of his best chance yet to win a World Championship despite O'Sullivan winning the first frame of the evening. His clearance of 25 to seal the trophy once and for all might not sound much but under massive pressure, it was one of the best clearances I've ever seen at the Crucible. And that was that, 18-14 and Selby had beaten one of the greatest snooker players of all time, despite being five frames behind on two occasions.
And let's not forget who else Mark Selby had to beat to win his first world title. His 17-15 semi final win over Neil Robertson was full of high quality snooker and will live long in the memory. In a classic nip and tuck match, both players had nerves of steel throughout with some magnificent long potting and it was Selby who happened to have the edge on the night.
Before that, he dispatched experienced Scotsman Alan McManus 13-5 in the quarter finals- no mean feat considering McManus's safety play and in round two he had to get past two time world finalist Ali Carter. In Round One, he was in serious danger of going out to Michael White after almost blowing 5-1 and 8-4 leads to eventually win 10-9. Perhaps then more of us should have known Selby's name was written on the trophy for 2014.
Still only 30, Selby has all the attributes to become a true legend in the game. Indeed, he already is only one of nine players to win the World Championship, Masters and UK Championship. If he can defend his World Title next year or indeed become a two time champion at any time in the future, he can be considered a legend of the game.
Then the jester really would have the last laugh.
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