LONDON (Reuters) - England's Mark Selby produced a magnificent comeback to beat John Higgins 18-15 in the final of the world snooker championship at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre on Monday and win the global crown for the third time.

The champion from Leicester had found himself 10-4 down at one point on Sunday after an uncharacteristically poor day at the table and was staring at defeat in the 35-frame final against Scotland's four-time winner Higgins.

Yet a superb performance on Sunday illustrated exactly why the 33-year-old world No. 1 Selby has become recognised as one of the finest match players the game has seen as he battled back to dominate and record his third win in four years.