Mark Selby is into the World Snooker Championship final for a sixth time after beating Mark Allen 17-15 in a bruising encounter at the Crucible that didn’t finish till the early hours of Sunday morning.
The epic slugfest came to an end just after 12.45am with Selby punching the air in delight, set to be back in the room to begin the final at 1pm the same day.
The contest felt tight for the first three sessions, but the four-time champion powered towards the finish line on Saturday night, winning five frames on the spin.
Allen had been battling all game, though, and he wasn’t ready to give up yet, fighting hard and winning three frames on the bounce himself.
The Pistol has been struggling to find his best stuff consistently through the tournament, though, and he couldn’t quite do enough to reel in the Jester.
Selby was much more impressive in the break-building department, making three centuries and 10 half-centuries, and although it took him a long while to get over the line, he deserved to do so, making a break of 64 in the final frame.
He books a final against something of a surprise opponent in Luca Brecel, with the Belgian Bullet beating Si Jiahui 17-15 earlier on Saturday.
Brecel produced the biggest comeback in Crucible history to down Si, recovering from 14-5 behind to reach 17 frames first, amazingly winning 11 on the spin over two days.
It will be the first time Brecel has played in a World Championship final, in fact this year has been the first that he has won a match at the Crucible, turning a poor record in Sheffield around in some style.
Selby is vastly more experienced at the iconic venue, winning four of the five finals he has played in Sheffield, with his only defeat in the showpiece coming 16 years ago against John Higgins.
He has since downed Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ding Junhui, Higgins and Shaun Murphy in Crucible finals, establishing himself as one of the all-time greats of the sport.
The final is a race to 18 frames and played over four sessions on Sunday and Monday, with the winner earning £500,000 and the runner-up having to settle with £200,000.
More to follow…
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