Match Score Mark Selby 18-14 Ding Junhui
Session 1 (6-2 Selby)
World number one Mark Selby punished China's Ding Junhui by opening up a 6-2 lead in the World Championship final.
Selby, the 2014 winner, has not played his best in the tournament, but was commanding early on and went 6-0 ahead including breaks of 120, 91 and 76.
Qualifier Ding, appearing in his first final, failed to showcase his high-scoring ability, but managed to claim the last two frames to stay in touch.
The best-of-35 final resumes at 19:00 BST, with two more sessions on Monday.
Selby, 32, looked fresh despite a late semi-final finish against Marco Fu on Saturday, and took advantage of a nervous Ding.
The Leicester man took the first frame with a 91 break, and despite needing a snooker in the next, managed to get it to clear the colours.
A missed red along the cushion proved costly for former world number one Ding, as Selby's 76 and a century gave him the first four frames.
Selby made 70 as he took the next two, but 29-year-old Ding, who made a record seven centuries in his semi-final, finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh, and then won the eighth to boost his hopes of becoming the first Asian player to win the title.
Session 2 (5-4 Ding, Selby 10-7 Ding)
World number one Mark Selby held off Ding Junhui's fightback to lead 10-7 after a marathon first day of the best-of-35 World Championship final.
The Englishman took advantage of a nervous Ding to open up a 6-0 lead, before Ding pulled two back.
China's Ding had breaks of 103, 89 and 86 in the second session, as well as taking a 66-minute 15th frame.
But Selby, the 2014 champion, won the last two as play ended at 00:24 BST after a tactical 49-minute final frame.
The final resumes at 14:00 BST on Monday, with the last session due to start at 19:00.
Demolition session
Leicester's Selby, competing in his third final, looked fresh despite a late semi-final finish against Marco Fu on Saturday, and took advantage of Ding's edginess early on.
Having not shown his best snooker in the tournament, the 32-year-old signalled his intention with breaks of 91, 76, 70 and 120 to surge ahead.
However, his opponent - playing in his first Crucible final - won the seventh and eighth frames to stay in touch.
Ding's reprieve
Ireland's Ken Doherty, Australia's Neil Robertson and Canada's Cliff Thorburn are the only players from outside Britain to have won the World Championship.
Ding, 29, had to come through three qualifying matches to qualify for the main draw after slipping to 17th in the world rankings.
He is bidding to become only the third qualifier after Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005 to lift the trophy, and the first Asian world champion.
Selby looked like he might run away with the final when he won the first frame of the second session, but he suffered an unfortunate miscue when in amongst the reds in the next.
That gave Ding a reprieve as he jumped out of his seat to make a counter-attacking 76 break.
He followed it up with a century, his 13th of the tournament, and a cool 89 under pressure to reduce the deficit to 7-5.
Ding grabbed two of the next three, including the marathon 15th frame to go 8-7 behind, but it seemed to take a lot out of him.
Selby, who was clearly struggling with tiredness, pinched the final two frames of the session, punching the table and raising his cue in delight on his way to finally bringing the session to a conclusion.
Session 3 (4-4, Selby 14-11 Ding)
World number one Mark Selby showed his resolve to remain in control against China's Ding Junhui and lead 14-11 in the World Championship final.
Selby, the 2014 champion, led 10-7 overnight but Ding took a 50-minute frame and made a century break as he cut the advantage to 11-10.
However, Selby won three of the next four to stay ahead.
The pair play to a conclusion in the best-of-35 match from 19:00 BST as they look to win the £330,000 top prize.
Selby keeps his nose in front
Qualifier Ding, looking to become the first Asian world champion, made a break of 89 in the first frame of the second day and then pinched a 50-minute frame on the black to close to 10-9.
The pair traded centuries which meant every time Ding got to within one frame, his opponent pulled away again.
Selby made 52 and 68 to guarantee a lead going into the final session.
Ding got one back again but Selby's 55 in the last of the session left him just four away from victory.
Analysis
Six-time world champion Steve Davis: "Mark Selby is an animal on the table, he took that last frame by the scruff of the neck.
"He can grind frames out but he can also attack them. How do you approach the final session? It's like another day in the office apart from the fact it's the most important session of your career. Ding knows he's up against a rock of a player."
Session 4 (4-3 Selby, Selby 18-14 Ding)
England's world number one Mark Selby beat China's Ding Junhui 18-14 to win his second World Championship title.
Selby, the 2014 champion from Leicester, led 10-7 overnight and went into the interval leading 14-11 after Monday's first session at the Crucible.
Ding, who was bidding to become the first Asian player to win the world title, won three frames in a row but Selby dug deep to secure his triumph.
Selby, 32, secures a £330,000 top prize and maintains his number one ranking.
