Singh Chadha stuns Selby to reach English Open semi-finals

Jonathan Davies in English Open 21 September 2024

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Singh Chadha overcame Selby on the final black

Ishpreet Singh Chadha sealed his place in the English Open semi-finals with a dramatic 5-4 win over Mark Selby on the final black.

The world number 77 had already taken out the likes of Graeme Dott, Jak Jones and Hossein Vafaei at the Brentwood Centre to become the first Indian ranking quarter-finalist in 11 years.

Although, the chance of claiming another scalp appeared to have eluded him when Selby recovered from 4-1 down to lead 63-8 in the decider.

However, the second-year professional worked his way back into the frame, before a nerveless 41 clearance saw him snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Singh Chadha opened with 73 and, after taking a scrappy second frame on the colours, a superb 114 put him 3-0 to the good.

Two-time English Open champion Selby stopped the rot with a break of 96 and looked set to reduce the deficit to 3-2, but his opponent cleared from the brown to pinch frame five on the black.

The Jester demonstrated his tremendous determination with his back against the wall, as runs of 39, 46 and 96 helped him win the next three frames and force a decider.

Contributions of 26 and 37 appeared to have the four-time World champion in control and on the cusp of a semi-final place. But after reducing the 63-8 deficit to 63-33, a thumping red paved the way for Singh Chadha produce the calmest clearance under the most intense pressure to get over the line.

His reward is a showdown with Wu Yize, who dethroned reigning champion Judd Trump earlier in the day with a 5-3 victory.

The Chinese opened with a superb break of 108, but runs of 45, 32 and 48 saw Trump turn things around to lead 2-1.

However, Wu controlled the next frame and won the next two on the colours to stand on the brink of victory at 4-2 up.

He had been in this position against Trump earlier this month, but surrendered a commanding 4-0 advantage in their Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters last-32 encounter.

Though the Ace kept his hopes alive in this contest with contributions of 38 and 56, Wu was not to be denied this time with a 62 in the next frame sealing the deal.

Elsewhere, Neil Robertson continued his resurgence with a dominant 5-1 win over Barry Hawkins.

The left-handers exchanged breaks of 89 and 59 in the opening two frames, before 2021 champion Robertson controlled the third to regain the lead.

He then stole the next two on the black from 57-0 and 49-28 deficits respectively, and dominated the following to book a last-four showdown with Chris Wakelin, who overcame Mark Allen 5-2.

The former Shootout champion lost the opening frame, but won the next four with runs of 52, 64, 38 and 41 along the way.

Allen stopped the rot with contributions of 28 and 58 in a dominant sixth frame, but a 60 in the next saw Wakelin home.

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