Mark Selby beat five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 18-14 to win the World Championship for the first time in Sheffield on Monday.

Selby staged an astonishing fight-back to win 13 of the last 17 frames after trailing 3-8, 5-10 in the first day's competition.

O'Sullivan, bidding for a third consecutive victory, crumbled under pressure and saw Selby rally to 10-7 overnight and then win five of the six frames in the third session.

The 30-year-old Selby won the last three frames and sealed victory with a stunning clearance. The win earned him a record 300,000 pounds of top prize and took him back to top of the world rankings.

Selby, who reached the final in 2007 when he lost to John Higgins, also completed a Grand Slam of UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship and became only the ninth player in history to achieve this feat.

"To get out 10-7 down yesterday, I felt I was winning 10-7. I was physically and mentally tired yesterday - the same as when I got to the final seven years ago against John Higgins," he said. "Ronnie outplayed me yesterday and I was still only 10-7 behind and I still felt I hadn't turned up.

"All tournament I've felt confident and I knew if I got a chances I felt like I was going to score even though I didn't yesterday. Ronnie came back to 15-14 and asked me the question, and I probably played my best snooker of the match in those last three frames.

"My father passed away with cancer when I was 16, two months before I turned professional, and his last words to me were 'I want you to become world champion'. I said to him I will be one day it's just a matter of when not if."

O'Sullivan said: "I want to congratulate Mark on a brilliant match and a brilliant tournament. I tried my hardest but he was just too good.

"As a top snooker player you accept the losses with the wins, you can't have it your own way all the time. I've had some great victories here but losing is part of the sport and you've just got to accept that it's part and parcel of it. You have to go away and lick your wounds and go one better next time."