Selby played some truly breathtaking snooker in the last 4 frames of the match to complete an unlikely 10-9 victory and pocket €150,0000 in the process.

After clinching his second Masters crown he said: “I thought I was dead and buried at 9-6. To play Ronnie anywhere it’s a great atmosphere but this was special. I just took it a frame at a time.”

“I kept calm and took it one frame at a time. I knew if I had to scrap it out that’s what I would have to do and that’s how it turned out” added the Jester from Leicester.

Ronnie O’Sullivan, who was been self-critical of the way he has been playing all week, said “I suppose I have to look at the bigger picture and that I got to the final against my expectations.”

“As far as I’m concerned, the game’s up. I’ll pitch up at tournaments, I’ve got too much of a competitive instinct [not to] but the consistency has gone. Defeats like this used to hurt a lot more. Now it’s just about seeing out my career and filling up my life with something more important” continued O’Sullivan.

At the start of the week World Snooker’s new chairman Barry Hearn said he was on the look out for a new ‘flag bearer’ for the sport. After last night’s performance, Mark Selby, might just be his man.

The Rocket, who came from 3-0 down to triumph 6-4, was particular harsh in his assessment of how he thinks he is playing right now and said: “I’ve played some good matches but I’m not the player I was when I was 15 or 16 when I could pot the long ones like Robertson and score.”

“The reason I was 3-0 down was because I made a bad shot in the first frame and another in the second, not because he made a good clearance in the third. I scored a few in the balls but my long potting was two out of ten. My safety bought me a bit of time” added O’Sullivan.

World Snooker’s new chairman, Barry Hearn, commented afterwards: “I need a Tiger Woods or a Phil Taylor as a flag bearer for our brave new world. Ronnie could do that but he needs to be winning. There is no reason why he should not despite his harsh self-assessment that it is five years since he played throughout a tournament to a standard he deems acceptable.”

The Rocket meets Peter Ebdon for a place in the semi-finals of The Masters on Thursday.

WATCH both Ronnie and Neil’s Masters walk-on below.

The world number 16 strode out to the dulcet tones of Ice Cube’s ‘You Can Do It (Put Your Back Into It)’ in his matches against Jimmy White and Stephen Maguire, but his 6-3 defeat to the latter last night signals the end of anymore ostentatious entrances at The Masters.

Maguire will now face the winner of Ryan Day vs Joe Perry, while King will no doubt reflect on what could have been, as he had enough chances to wrap up victory over the Scot.

Relive Mark King’s walk-on to Ice Cube below!

2005 World champion, Murphy, beat Stephen Hendry 6-4 in what was the closest match yet of this year’s Masters, while Mark Williams overcame Rory McLeod 6-2 to book his place in round 2.

Murphy faces the winner of Mark Williams’ clash with Ali Carter next up, while for Hendry his search for a first title in 5 years goes on.

The final game of the day sees Jimmy White’s conqueror, Mark King, face world number 2 Stephen Maguire for a quarter-final berth.

Jimmy White was sent crashing out of The Masters by Mark King on Sunday, with many prompting the question as to whether or not the ‘Whirlwind’ will ever grace Wembley again

White, who was handed a wildcard for the event, went down 6-2 to the world number 16 and admitted afterwards that he felt “sickened” by the defeat.

White entered the Wembley Arena to the sound of Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, as part of Barry Hearn‘s plan to add a touch of fun to snooker, but with Rolling Stone pal Ronnie Wood in attendance he was unable to find any kind of rythmn on the snooker table.

Breaks of 56, 64 and 85 did the damage for King as he strolled to a 4 frame victory to set up a second round clash against Stephen Maguire.

Selby, who won The Masters in 2008, capitalised on some play from the Chinese sensation as he raced to 5-0 lead. Ding pulled one frame back, but Selby was not to be denied and closed the game out in the next to book his place in the quarter-finals.

The Jester from Leicester, who had to overcome an over excitable PA system during the match, will now face John Higgins or Mark Allen.

Elsewhere, Peter Ebdon defeated Marco Fu 6-2 to join Selby in the quarters.

26 years on, White begins another campaign against Mark King on Sunday and he confesses that his enthusiasm for the game remains – “I am really looking forward to it. Mark is tough to beat but if I produce anything like I have been playing, I have got every chance.”

White has dropped to 62 in the latest provisional world rankings and will start as a rank outsider in his bid for Masters glory next week, but he can draw encouragement from his win in the Sangsom 6-red World Grand Prix last year.

The full draw is  -

First round:
Mark Williams (Wal) v Rory McLeod (Eng)
Mark King (Eng) v Jimmy White (Eng)
Masters second round:
Ronnie O’Sullivan (Eng) v Neil Robertson (Aus)
Marco Fu (HK) v Peter Ebdon (Eng)
Allister Carter (Eng) v Williams/McLeod
Shaun Murphy (Eng) v Stephen Hendry (Sco)
Stephen Maguire (Sco) v King/White
Ryan Day (Wal) v Joe Perry (Eng)
Mark Selby (Eng) v Ding Junhui (Chi)
John Higgins (Sco) v Mark Allen (NI)
Quarter-finals:
O’Sullivan/Robertson v Fu/Ebdon
Carter/Williams/McLeod v Murphy/Hendry
Maguire/White/King v Day/Perry
Selby/Junhui v Higgins/Allen

Leading online poker site, Pokerstars.com, will sponsor the upcoming Wembley event and Hearn had this to say about the new deal – “This is another fantastic boost for snooker and it feels as if things are really turning around for our sport.”

“We’ve now got sponsors on board for three of our biggest UK tournaments and I’m sure that there are more to come” added Hearn.