SNOOKER: Mark Selby is the champion of the world after Crucible win

Selby – who also won the title in 2014 – led throughout Sunday and went into Monday’s final session leading 14-11.

Ding was bidding to become the first Asian player to win the world title fought back by claiming three frames in a row.

But Selby showed character to seal a brilliant double for the city of Leicester, whose football team became Premier League champions 13 minutes earlier.

“It is fantastic,” Selby told BBC TV.

“It was very special to win it two years ago, but I felt under a lot more pressure now than I did two years ago.

“In the first to 18, a 6-0 lead is not a huge one, especially against someone like Ding. He played fantastically earlier today and I had to just hang on to him.

“I’m just over the moon. I saved my best performance for the final and I only had two good sessions in the tournament. Luckily my ‘B’ game is pretty good.”

Selby joined snooker’s greats by becoming only the sixth multiple world champion in the Crucible era.

Meanwhile, Barry Hearn has announced the Crucible will keep the World Championship until at least 2027 in a move that crushed Chinese hopes of snatching the event.

The tournament was brought to Sheffield in 1977 by promoter Mike Watterson, whose wife Carole watched a play in the theatre and suggested it would make an ideal snooker venue.

It was never then expected to stage the tournament for half a century, but the landmark will be reached with the 10-year extension to Sheffield’s existing deal.

The Crucible’s 980-seat capacity is a frustrating restriction, and there had been speculation other venues in the city would be considered, including the vast Sheffield Arena.

But World Snooker chairman Hearn said: “The Crucible is where we come from, there’s the history, that’s where the deal’s for. The deal is with the Crucible Theatre as well as Sheffield City Council.”