Neil Robertson reaches World Grand Prix final after sinking Mark Selby
Selby and Robertson do battle in the Scottish Open quarter-finals
Neil Robertson is through to his second World Grand Prix final following a 6-3 victory over Mark Selby in Coventry on Friday.
The Thunder made breaks of 93, 82, 74, 71 and 63 at the Coventry Building Society Arena as he recorded his fifth successive win against the Jester, whose wait for a maiden title in an ITV televised event goes on.
Having lifted this trophy in 2020, Robertson is aiming to become only the second multiple winner after three-time champion Judd Trump.
The Australian, who scraped past Masters champion Yan Bingtao on the final pink in the quarter-finals, made a strong start with breaks of 82 and 93.
But Selby – appearing in his third World Grand Prix semi-final – halved the deficit, before taking a lengthy fourth frame on the black to level.
The World champion had the first opportunity after the interval, but broke down on 36 when running out of position on the black.
Robertson – a two-time winner of the Champion of Champions at this venue – capitalised with 74, while a run of 67 restored his two-frame advantage.
Selby responded with a brilliant 112 clearance, but was unfortunate not to split the reds on 24 in the following frame; enabling his opponent to move to the brink of victory with another 74.
The 2010 World champion required no second invitation; a run of 71 booking his place in a 34th ranking event final.
Earlier in the day, Ronnie O’Sullivan advanced to the 86th ranking event semi-final of his career after a 5-2 win over Jimmy Robertson.
As has been the case throughout the week, the Rocket grew into the contest; hitting breaks of 112, 80 and 68 from 2-2 to soar through.
Next up for the 2018 champion is 2016 runner-up Stuart Bingham, who had runs of 105 and 95 during a dominant 5-1 success against Stephen Maguire.