By Anand Philar
Hyderabad, Nov 25 (IANS) Alfred Burden became the first from England in 11 years to win the men’s World Snooker championship crown when he wore down Igor “Tiger” Figueiredo of Brazil 10-8 in a pulsating final, in which the fortunes swung crazily, here Wednesday.

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.

Figueiredo lived up to his nickname as he fought with the ferocity of a cornered tiger until Burden caged, if not tamed, the Brazilian with marginally superior craft and steadier nerves.

It was a match that will be long remembered for the many twists and turns, the drama enacted by two worthy opponents making their debut in the championship rather than consistent high quality snooker.

Barring a stupendous 103 break by Burden in the 14th frame and a high of 98 by Figueiredo in the fourth that started his recovery after losing the opening three frames, the contest was marked by smaller breaks, plenty of misses interspersed by shots of highest quality.

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 fact, there was very little separating the two and it boiled down to one of them keeping his nerves to get over the finish line. Burden, being the more experienced of the two having played several seasons on the professional circuit, looked a tad steadier on the big shots, though he, like his opponent, was prone to errors.

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.

The pressure was squarely on Figueiredo, yet the Brazilian showed rare character to clinch the frame on the black after Burden missed a sitter yellow and then went six-away on a foul on pink.

If Figueiredo thought he could author a dream comeback and force the match into the 19th frame, then he was disappointed as Burden made the best of an early opening to string a few small but useful breaks to take a decisive lead and the Brazilian was forced to concede defeat.

The results (final):

Men - Alfie Burden (England) bt Igor Figueiredo (Brazil) 10-8: 59-31, 82 (78)-50 (50), 59-01, 00-98 (98), 33-66, 65-102, 81-32, 01-89, 97-33, 19-81 (76), 47-56, 94 (62)-00, 65-58, 107 (103)-28, 39-49, 60-15, 51-67, 82-26.

For 3-4 positions: Yu Delu (China) bt Phillip Williams (England) 4-0.