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John Higgins held off a remarkable fightback by Mark Selby to win his second World Championship crown in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Sheffield.

The Scot eventually came out on top 18-13 after winning four frames in a row.

But the scoreline alone does not tell the whole story of qualifier Selby's gallant efforts after he had been taken apart by Higgins on the opening day of the best of 35 frame marathon.

Higgins' triumph was achieved after the latest finish to a world final in history, narrowly beating the 12.52am climax to the Graeme Dott-Peter Ebdon showdown 12 months ago.

But it was still some way short of the record for any match in the Crucible Theatre - 3.51am for the Cliff Thorburn-Terry Griffiths encounter in 1983.

It completed a memorable 48 hours for Higgins who, in addition to lifting his second world title, has regained number spot in the rankings for the 2007-2008 season.

The Wizard of Wishaw admits he has reaped the benefits of giving up drinking alcohol after being thrown off a plane upon losing the Malta Cup final last season.

But many of the plaudits were for Selby who had looked as if he faced mission impossible when trailing 12-4 overnight in the best of 35 encounter - a deficit which no-one has recovered to win in the history of the tournament.

At that stage it looked as if Selby had nothing to play for but pride but the Leicester potter completed a sparkling whitewash of a stunned Higgins in the truncated afternoon session.

He won all six frames with some deadly potting which included his 12th century of the tournament - more than anyone else - while his out-of-sorts opponent managed a top break of 36 during that period.

Higgins would have been the more happy of the two players to see two frames lopped off to allow them a break before the final session got under way and give him time to regroup for what proved to be a marathon stint.

Selby got to within one frame of Higgins at one stage at 14-13 before finally running out of steam after an unforgettable fortnight which has propelled him up to number 11 in the rankings.

He can look back with pride on his efforts after becoming only the third qualifier to reach the world final after Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005.

A run of 58 in the opening frame of the evening was Higgins' first half century of the second day.

The Scot looked in command of the next with the aid of a 43 only for Selby to hold his nerve with a superb 41 clearance in a 35-minute frame.

The high-scoring of earlier in a match which has produced four centuries was not as evident and a 48 was sufficient for Higgins to move 14-11 ahead.

But Selby showed he was in no mood to buckle by taking the next after leaving Higgins needing snookers and then he won a marathon 55-minute 27th frame with the aid of a superb final blue.

Higgins regained a two-frame advantage with two runs of 28 in frame 28 as the match moved past midnight.

Then the 31-year-old punished Selby for breaking down on 42 with a missed pink into the middle via a clearance to the same ball of 57.

Higgins was now cueing well and he moved to within one frame of the finishing line with a superb 129 clearance in the next.

That meant the tournament record of 68 centuries five years ago was equalled with Higgins' 11th in 2007.

Then, 12 minutes later, Higgins made sure of the title with a run of 78.

The highlight of the afternoon session had been an impressive 109 break from Selby - his 12th ton.

Right from the outset, Selby seemed in a relaxed frame of mind and joked and laughed with members of the audience which included a sizeable following from his native Leicester.

He had shown his durability in this tournament in winning last frame shootouts with Ali Carter and Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively, but Higgins had the final say on this occasion.