Superb Selby sweeps aside wasteful Wilson at the Tour Championship
Mark Selby cruised into the Tour Championship semi-finals following a resounding 10-3 victory over Kyren Wilson at Celtic Manor Resort.
The Jester hit breaks of 109, 88, 84 and 81 on the way to his seventh win in as many meetings with a lacklustre Wilson.
The pendulum swung firmly in Selby’s favour during the afternoon session when leading 4-2, he overturned deficits of 50-0 and 49-0 – making a neat 67 clearance in the latter – to open up a commanding 6-2 advantage heading into the evening.
He subsequently won four of the next five frames to book a last-four date with Neil Robertson.
“I felt as though I played really well from start to finish,” he told ITV Sport.
“I can’t remember too many easy balls or careless mistakes that I made throughout the match.
“I nicked (frames seven or eight) from 40 or 50 points behind.
“Many years ago when I was number one in the world and playing as good as I can play, I was doing that quite a lot.
“Over the last few seasons, that seems to have not been there. It was nice to make the clearance to go 6-2 up rather than 5-3.”
World number six Wilson was seeking his first-ever victory over Selby, and drew first blood as he dominated the opening frame.
But the three-time Crucible king hit back with breaks of 109, 81 and 54 establishing a 3-1 lead.
The next two frames were exchanged with Wilson’s 83 cancelled out by an 81 from the Jester.
The Warrior made the early running in frame seven with 50, but his failure to convert that opportunity was capitalised on by Selby.
The world number three repeated the feat from 49-0 down in the last frame of the afternoon, with a neat 67 clearance to go 6-2 in front.
Selby – winner of the European Masters and Scottish Open this season – began the evening with 84, but a missed pink on 47 in frame 10 allowed Wilson to reduce the deficit with 75.
But the Leicester cueman restored his authority on proceedings with runs of 54, 88 and 51 sealing the deal.
Selby is still awaiting his first silverware in a tournament televised on ITV, but a defeated Wilson is confident that the Jester can end that drought this week.
“Obviously, the pedigree’s there; Mark’s class,” he said.
“He was texting me last week asking for advice on his technique. He was talking about wanting to tinker with this and tinker with that.
“I didn’t see anything wrong with his technique tonight.
“If he keeps playing the way he is, he’s got every chance.
“I had loads of chances today. When you’ve got your chances against somebody like Mark Selby, you have to put them away.”