Summary Nick Matthew beat Gregory Gaultier 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 7-11, 11-2 to win World Championship title.
MANCHESTER (AFP) - Nick Matthew won the World Championship for the third time in four years when he inflicted yet another near miss on Gregory Gaultier by 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 7-11, 11-2.
It was the fourth time the Frenchman had lost in a world final, as he sought to emulate the 2004 achievement of Thierry Lincou, the only Frenchman to have won the world title so far.
For Matthew, aged 33, it was a wonderful reward for longevity and persistence, as he is only a few weeks younger than Geoff Hunt, the Australian who became the oldest male world champion when he won his last world title in 1980.
"I never thought I would see an English crowd as partisan as the French but tonight they were," Matthew said. "They really pushed me on.
"I want to say to Greg -- he s younger than me (30) and his time will come."
Gaultier pronounced himself "very, very disappointed."
He added: "I really thought I would win this time and it is very hard to take."
It had nevertheless looked as though the prize might be slipping away from the fourth seeded Yorkshireman when Gaultier first saved a match point at 11-10 in the third game and then erupted into his creative best in the fourth.
Then when it seemed the world number two would push through to become only the third man to win the world title from two games down, he began to struggle with cramp in the fourth game.
Although Gaultier somehow battled through to a decider his movement was almost gone, and Matthew trampled through the fifth game in only seven minutes, with Gaultier unable to chase down the last few balls at all.
Gaultier will now be ruing a schedule which put him on last thing the evening every time, making it impossible to get to sleep before 3 am.
This was followed by Matthew getting the briefest of semi-finals on Saturday when defending champion Ramy Ashour retired through injury.
It was nevertheless a marvellous achievement by the resourceful and disciplined Matthew who acknowledged that Gaultier and Ashour were better than him most of the year, yet still came out on top when it most mattered.
It was one of the most dramatic of all the 35 finals, with startling incident after startling incident, and the balance of advantage making many great pendulum swings.
Gaultier led 9-6 in the first game and 8-6 in the second, lost both leads as Matthew raised his game, and then lost both games on penalty points as backhand drives rebounded at crazy angles off the front wall too close to his body.
He then got lucky with a Matthew lob which was called out when it was clearly in, which gave him a 8-7 lead in the third game, and saved the match point with an outrageous backhand volley into the nick -- the join of the sidewall and the floor -- and rolled dead.
There was also an incredible dive by Gaultier which saw him hit the ball while on the floor and win the point, and a recovery from Matthew after Gaultier s head had accidentally connected with his face.
The denouement came with Gaultier painfully unable to capitalise on his great comeback and Matthew exulting with a rapturous crowd.
"I dread to think of the place Greg s in now -- I feel sorry for him," Matthew said. "But for me -- I can t imagine anything better than this."
