Burden snatches World title

Burden, the 33-year old from London, thus lived up to his billing of overwhelming title favourite based on form and ability. However, he was stretched to breakpoint by the 32-year old Brazilian who had won the hearts with a fairytale run through the fortnight-long tournament.

Of more significance to Burden, who thus became the first Englishman to win the coveted crown since Luke Simmonds triumphed in 1998, was that he earned an entry into the pro-ticket tour that is a gateway to the lucrative professional circuit.
At the start, Burden raced to a 3-0 lead, but the burly Figueiredo came surging back to level at 3-3. Thereafter, the two moved neck and neck. The Englishman, however, had his nose in front at 5-4 when the first session ended.

In the second session, it was Figueiredo who took control at the outset by winning two frames on the trot to forge ahead for the first time in the match.
He leveled at 5-5 with a brilliant 76 and then cleared the table to take a 6-5 lead. However, Burden, undeterred by the change in the flow of the match, took the next three frames to move to 8-6 with breaks of 62 (12th) and 103 (14th) that gave strong indications of a player getting into the groove.

But the Brazilian fought his way back by taking the 15th frame on the back of a 35 break only to see Burden retaliating with a run of 51 in the 16th for a 9-7 lead.
Results (final): Men: Alfie Burden (Eng) bt Igor Figueiredo (Bra) 59-31, 82 -50, 59-1, 0-98, 33-66, 65-102, 81-32, 1-89, 97-33, 19-81, 47-56, 94-0, 65-58, 107-28, 39-49, 60-15, 51-67, 82-26.
Third place playoff:  Yu Delu (Chn) bt Phillip Williams (Eng) 4-0.