Mark Selby proved his world number one credentials by beating German Masters champion Martin Gould in the final, as the Gdynia Open closes the European Tour for the last time in its current format.
A gulf in class in the last 16
There were a number of comfortable victories in the last 16 as the tournament began to heat up. Andrew Higginson led the way with a 4-0 victory over Tom Ford that took less than an hour, a score repeated by Kyren Wilson against Thor Chaun Leong and Ben Woollaston who knocked out amateur Ryan Causton after an excellent tournament. Martin Gould, Marco Fu and Mark King recorded excellent 4-1 victories over their respective opponents, whilst Selby and European Tour leader Barry Hawkins were the players who had to rely on last frame deciders.
Hawkins was on the wrong side of the same scoreline in the quarter final against young star Wilson, whilst Selby found a different gear to defeat Fu 4-1. Gould saw off Woollaston by the same scoreline, before Higginson edged his way to victory against Mark King.
Selby started to show his class in the semi final
It was an all English showing in the semi-finals as Selby met Higginson and Gould played Wilson. Selby raced into a 3-0 lead in his match, including a 110 break in the second frame. Higginson courageously tried to fight back but Selby wrapped up the contest with a 4-2 victory. Gould won by the same scoreline but had more of a fight on his hands than Selby. Wilson put himself 2-0 ahead, only for Gould to grind out the next four frames to cement his place in the final.
There was only one winner
After an early exit in the Welsh Open, the world had been waiting for Selby to kickstart his 2016 and he did just that in the final against Gould. Selby relinquished the first frame to his established colleague 73-26, but came back strong to put together a 92 break to tie the final. A break of 69 helped him to a 70-0 victory in the third, before another half century pretty much sealed the deal. Selby required a couple of bites at the cherry to win the fifth frame as he recorded a comfortable 4-1 victory in the final game of the European Tour as we know it.