Burden first English to win World Snooker title in 11 years

Hyderabad: Alfred Burden became the first Englishman in 11 years to clinch the men`s World Snooker championship title after outpotting Brazil`s Igor "Tiger" Figueiredo in a best of 19 frames final here today.

The 33-year old cueist from London showed great sangfroid at the crucial junctures and fully utilised his substantial professional exposure to outclass his Brazilian opponent 10-8 at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. Living upto the expectations of title favourite, Burden romped home 59-31, 78-50, 66-01, 00-98(98), 53-06, 65-102, 81-32, 01-89, 97-33, 19-81(76), 47-56, 94-00, 69-58, 107-28, 39-49, 60-15, 51-67, 82-26 in a marathon battle divided over two sessions. The huge crowd which gathered at the venue witnessed a classical display of snooker by the two maestros as both fought hard to level the proceedings. Burden compiled breaks of 78, 103 and 66 to put his stamp on the coveted title. Luke Simmonds was the other Englishman who had won the title in 1998. China`s Yu Delu got the better off Philip Williams of Wales 69-61, 59-37, 56-35, 60-56 in straight frames in the third place play-off match. PTI