Some early final nerves from both players. John Higgins misses a black off the spot at the start of frame two, but it doesn't matter as Mark Selby then leaves a red over the pocket to bring the Scot back to the table.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion at The Crucible

"You have to get out of the starting blocks in each session as quickly as you possibly can. I think that's possibly one of the key things to being successful in this tournament.

"John Higgins got out of the blocks pretty quickly but when questions were asked of Mark he got straight back into his stride"

When you are playing the world number one you can't make any errors. That loose positional shot from Higgins is his only mistake in frame one. But it is a costly one.

Selby rattles off a break of 76 to take an early lead.

A frame of less than 15 minutes. A good start to the action and Selby is up and running.

And what about our reigning champion?

Mark Selby said: "It will be a fantastic occasion. I played in my first final 10 years ago against the same opponent and here we are on the 40th anniversary.

"John is a great player, one of the greats of the game. He has had a fantastic season and is in the final again. It will be another tough match for me.

"If he wins another world title, he will be equal with Ronnie O'Sullivan on five victories so he is trying to created history himself."

Image source, PA

So what have the pair said in the build-up to this final.

"You'd favour Mark, because he has been more involved in the massive matches in recent years. I've not," said John Higgins.

The 41-year-old, who has won three non-ranking events this season and beat Selby 18-13 a decade ago, added: "Mark will not go below a certain level, so I need to play better.

"I know what I need to do in the last, massive game to end the season. I am trying to stay focused and give it my all against the number one player in the world. Winning it would be my biggest achievement, without a doubt."

And we're under way. The final is the best of 35 frames, over two days, so the first to 18 is the champion.

We will have eight frames in this opening session. Higgins is the first to get in and makes a break of 34, but carelessly leaves a red over the pocket. Will Selby punish him?

No empty seats...

Fancy getting a taste of the action? Well, you won't have much chance in getting a ticket now, but you can have a look behind the scenes at the Crucible, courtesy of this video from World Snooker.

BBC Sport app users may need to click on the below link to watch the video.

Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport at The Crucible

With the boxing out of the way, we now have a real heavyweight clash in the final of the 2017 World Snooker Championship.

In the red Leicester corner, Englishman Mark Selby - the undisputed world number one - is looking to become only the fourth player to win back-to-back Crucible titles in the modern era, while in the tartan blue corner, 41-year-old Scot John Higgins can become the oldest champion since Ray Reardon in 1978.

Everyone at the Crucible is expecting this to be a long one, as two gritty, tough match players go head-to-head in a repeat of the 2007 showpiece, but who will deliver the knockout blow?"

BBC Two

We are live on BBC Two right now so join Hazel Irvine and the team for all the live coverage.

Press the play button at the top of this page to watch along.

If you can't watch it live, then don't worry as we will show you the best moments in this page throughout the day. Don't worry, we've got you covered.

Hello, hope you're well.

Thank you for joining us for BBC Sport's live coverage of the 2017 World Snooker Championship final.

We will have all the action, analysis and talking points from the biggest match in snooker.

They are two of the greatest players the game of snooker has ever seen.

John Higgins has had his hands on the World Championship trophy on four occasions...

Image source, Getty Images

... while Mark Selby is the dominant man at the moment. He's been top of the world rankings unchallenged for more than two years and has two Crucible titles under his belt - including success last year.

Image source, Getty Images

The 2017 tournament has been wonderful, and now we have a fitting final. It is going to be fun.