MARK SELBY fought off a brave fightback from Ronnie O'Sullivan tonight to win the Betway UK Snooker Championship final 10-7 at York Barbican.

During a scintillating best of 19 frame contest, the 'Rocket' recovered from 7-2 down to trail 8-7 in his bid for a record equalling sixth UK crown.

But world champion Selby, the 'Jester from Leicester', showed his class to become the first player since O'Sullivan in 2001 to win snooker's two biggest competitions in the same year.

This game had been dubbed a 'Clash of the Titans' and, after a cagey start, the two players served up a 'Barbican belter'.

Things caught fire in the 12th frame when O'Sullivan, trailing 7-4, hit the first of five century breaks in six frames by the pair.

Exchanging centuries likes heavyweight boxers trading big blows, O'Sullivan hit 134, Selby replied with 137. O'Sullivan made 130, Selby 134. It was extraordinary stuff.

Selby wrapped things up in the 17th frame with a 107 break and joins an elite group of players to win the 'Triple Crown' twice.

O'Sullivan had survived a major scare against Marco Fu in the semifinals.

The 'Rocket' had been leading 3-1 at the interval but Fu took four of the next five frames to lead 5-4 and then missed a green in the tenth frame that would probably have signalled the end for O'Sullivan.

After clearing the table to level the scores at 5-5, O'Sullivan hit a stunning 130 break in the decider to secure victory.

Selby, meanwhile, advanced to the final with a scrappy but, ultimately, comfortable 6-2 win over Shaun Murphy.