British Open 2023 snooker LIVE – Mark Selby dominates Xiao Guodong to set up Mark Williams final
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Updated 30/09/2023 at 20:35 GMT
Welcome to Eurosport's live text coverage of the 2023 British Open from the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse. It is time for the semi-finals on Saturday afternoon and evening, and the line-up for the two intriguing encounters is set. Hossein Vafaei will face Mark Williams in the afternoon session, before Mark Selby will take centre stage and play against Xiao Guodong in the evening.
Watch the moment O'Sullivan wins Shanghai Masters
That's us for the evening
It'll be the Marks tomorrow then, Williams and Selby, who have landed just the seven world titles, 16 Triple Crown wins and 46 ranking event victories between them. That should be a pretty absorbing Sunday.
We'll be with you from 12.45pm BST to see how it all pans out. Until then, be well out there, night night.
Mark Selby dominates Xiao Guodong to reach final
Well, that was conclusive, and concussive. Xiao contributed to his own downfall there, missing simple pots when it looked like the winning line was coming in frames three and six, but he was punished ruthlessly by an opponent in top form when he got in from his own skill. Mark plugged breaks of 64, 94, 123 and 61 tonight, and looks in superb touch ahead of the final tomorrow. If Mark Williams was watching that, he'll know he's got a game on and then some.
Selby 6-0 Xiao
Inevitably, Mark calmly dishes with 34 for frame and match.
Selby 5-0 Xiao (54-47)
Xiao needs two goes to connect with a red thereafter, shipping four points. What a nightmare position for Xiao to be in - five in the hole, and in this safety exchange with one of the game's great tacticians. If he nicks the frame here it will feel like winning four. As it is, the winner now looks likely to be Mark, who booms a red long into the yellow pocket and drops on the yellow. Everything is in the open here, and it looks ominous for Xiao.
Selby 5-0 Xiao (49-47)
Into the pack we go off the fifth black. Reds go all over, and from Xiao's next red all he can do is hold for the pink. Humbug! He's playing very nicely here though, letting his arm go a bit with nothing to lose. And yet just as I type that, he has another horror show, missing a virtually straight red to bottom right and leaving it in the jaws. Oh my. The good news is, two reds went safe when he split the pack; the bad news is, Mark is playing brilliantly and can get right back in the frame here. One attempt to shift one of the reds out only pushes it safe elsewhere, but he's right back in the frame with 49 from what's in the loose. He's now in the lead, and plays safe with two reds left out there.
Selby 5-0 Xiao (0-32)
Xiao does get in at last - I didn't see how as my telly cut out for a few seconds - but he's now stitching something together around the black spot. It's four reds and four blacks to start; early doors, but a maxi would be quite a way to launch a fight back.
Selby 5-0 Xiao
Mark bags the frame with a 61. It's all about pride from here for Xiao.
Selby 4-0 Xiao (62-0)
Mark drains frame ball blue, going around the angles in baulk to land perfectly on the insurance red that removes all doubt. It's been utter domination tonight, Xiao has only registered fifty points in the whole match.
Selby 4-0 Xiao (50-0)
Xiao plays safe to baulk, but not safe enough, as Mark tags in another long red and he's away again. Position is almost lost when he goes into the pack and leaves the white submerged, but a good recovery cut on a red to bottom right leaves him nicely on the blue. He's going down for a loose bunch of five reds and back up for the blue, shot after shot; a loose one forces him to go for the pink instead, which he makes, followed by a nice red into the bottom right with the rest. With just a few more pots, Mark will be one frame from the final.
Selby 4-0 Xiao (14-0)
We're back, and it's as you were - Mark crunches in a long red to start frame five, and he's on the brown. He then plays the shot of the match, sending the brown screaming into the green pocket and the white of four cushions to land perfectly on a red above the black. Soon enough he's into the pack again and Xiao will be worried, but Mark lands awkwardly on the black and can't convert it into the bottom left. Amazingly, he leaves Xiao nothing easy to go at; even when it's not running for him, it's running for him.
Selby 4-0 Xiao
The final two reds are near the bottom cushion, but Mark lands on them and picks them off with ease to go up for the black each time. Inevitably, he goes on to empty the table for a superb 123. That is the 783rd century of his magnificent career, and he is absolutely bossing this.
We'll be back in 15 to see if Xiao can do anything about this.
Selby 3-0 Xiao (70-8)
The winning line is soon traversed, and a deft red to left middle, bridging awkwardly over another, takes Mark to 70 in this break. It's ruthless from the Jester, and it's very hard to see Xiao turning this match around against a player of this class in this mood.
Selby 3-0 Xiao (53-8)
Mark quickly turns this break into a half-century, and he's only a few balls away from sweeping this mini-session. There's been a few mistakes in there from Xiao, most notably in frame three, but MArk has been superb so far tonight.
Selby 3-0 Xiao (26-8)
This will cheer Xiao up - after Mark breaks off, he drains a long red to bottom left to hold for the black. He can only manage eight and no more though, and when Xiao plays a poor safety that leaves the white on the baulk line, Mark steps in to hose a red into the bottom right and come up for the yellow. He's away again, and a good recovery red to right middle wobbles in to take him up for the blue.
Selby 3-0 Xiao
Oh my, Xiao will be sick. Did he just take his eye off it, thinking the hard work was done? Whatever happened, Mark just needs to dish up to the blue for the frame; he calmly does just that, and empties the table to steal one that looked like it would be stolen from him.
Selby 2-0 Xiao (44-41)
Right then Xiao, what have you got? He drains a red as a shot to nothing, and a timely kiss on the brown leaves him on it to the yellow pocket. It's a chance to really get back in the frame and Xiao duly does; he clears up the five loose reds, and brings the final red away from the black as he just about lands on the pink. It's a thin cut and he makes it, can he clip the last red in to the bottom left now? Yes he can, and he's on the yellow with all six colours in the open! But what's this? Oh my word, he's missed the yellow and left it for Mark! Unbelievable.
Selby 2-0 Xiao (44-0)
Mark plays his first duff shot of the night when he doesn't get through a pot on a red enough, and fails to land on the black. It's break over on 43, and a lucky break for Xiao who must have been fearing going three behind there. Safety ensues, and Mark gets another red down before putting the black on the side cushion when forced to play safe. He's really turning the screw here, match play Mark is in the house.
Selby 2-0 Xiao (29-0)
Oh he is flying out there. Mark drains a red long, right across the table to the bottom left, and he's on the black. He then mops up what's in the open, before running through the pack with delayed screw after potting the black. They've split well, and a delicate pot on a red down the rail to bottom right with the cue extensions puts him back on the black. He is playing very well tonight, even by his standards.
Selby 2-0 Xiao
Mark quickly puts it to bed, can he bank a ton to boot? He'll need to double the final red...but it catches the high knuckle of the right middle and bounces away. The 94 though is more than enough for the frame.
Selby 1-0 Xiao (56-0)
Another nice shot on the blue sees Mark deftly flick apart a black and an adjacent red; He then drops a red into the bottom left to go up for the blue, and the frame is at his mercy now. The half-century is quickly in the books, and with four reds still in the wide open of the remaining six, Mark looks certain to bank another one.
Selby 1-0 Xiao (24-0)
Xiao shorts a safety at the start of frame two, so badly that it leaves Mark a formulaic red to bottom right to get going. It's a decent chance, more so when Mark gives the pack a tickle, and a good blue to send the white in and out of baulk to land on his next red takes things to 24. He's started impressively here.
Selby 1-0 Xiao
Mark quickly puts the frame to bed, making a total of 64 before missing the yellow.
Selby 0-0 Xiao (52-1)
Xiao finally gets a look at a long-ish red to bottom left, but he misses by an enormous margin and he's left Mark a red from shorter range to the same pocket. In it goes, and Mark is on the black; it looks a practice table from here, and Mark has added 22 already. The first frame looks nailed on from here.
Selby 0-0 Xiao (30-1)
We've got a real impasse here, neither player can get a red down, they're barely getting a look at an angle on one. We've cleared the 20 minute mark in the frame and there are still nine reds out there.
Selby 0-0 Xiao (30-1)
The break is over when Mark misses a yellow mid-range to its own pocket, but he caught it so badly he didn't really leave anything. A very cagey safety exchange follows, with reds being sent up near baulk, before Mark leaves a shot on a red to right middle. Xiao booms it in, but lands bullet straight on the black along the bottom rail, with no angle to get on this next red. He opts to put the black over the bottom right rather than in it, which has added a good amount of jeopardy to the frame.
Selby 0-0 Xiao (21-0)
Mark gets it popping; draining a long red to the bottom right, but he drifts just past the baulk line and laying a snooker is his only option. That yields four points from a miss, and then position as Xiao escapes but leaves a mid-range red on to bottom right. Mark plugs it and bangs into the black, staying on it to bottom left. That's a perfectly controlled shot, and he's away.
Here we go
Boys, meet baize; baize, meet boys. Now we're all acquainted, it's best of 11 for a place in the final.
XIAO
This is the first time Xiao has seen this juncture of a tournament since the Gibraltar Open three and a half years ago. That was back in March 2020, as Covid gripped the planet and his narrow defeat in a decider to Judd Trump was played out in front of an empty arena. Xiao is playing for a place in his third ranking event final, after previous appearances in the final of the Shoot Out and the Shanghai Masters. He is yet to win one.
SELBZ
Mark is on a handy run of form, having reached at least the last four of his past four ranking events and also the Shanghai Masters, a prestigious invitational. His most recent win in a tournament was at the Scottish Open in December 2022. The British Open is one of the few tournaments he's never won - though in fairness too him, it hasn't been contested for the bulk of his career - and he'll be jonesing to win the 23rd ranking event title of his storied career.
GOOD EVENING
So we know one of the finalists, now it’s time to sort out who the other one will be. It’s Mark Selby versus Xiao Guodong, and it’s in the post.
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That's us for now
Join us again from 6.45pm BST, when Mark Selby will face Xiao Guodong for the right to face Williams tomorrow.
Mark Williams reaches the British Open final
What a strange match that was bar. Bar one rhythmic break of 135 from Hossein Vafaei it was a match riddled with errors, though Mark Williams made less of them and will advance to tomorrow's final. Mark managed to register three half-centuries during the match but needed more than one bite to win all of his frames, and will surely need to play better to complete a hat trick of British Open triumphs by winning the final tomorrow. He'll have that chance though, because he's won the day here.
Williams 6-3 Vafaei
Mark empties the table for a 71, his best break of the day. Far more importantly, he's in the final tomorrow!
Williams 5-3 Vafaei (77-28)
Mark wriggles a red into the bottom right, and he's on the black. This looks ominous, and although he's been patchy today, this visit of 29 concludes with frame ball pink to the bottom left. One of the two remaining reds is then glided into the right middle, and we're done here.
Williams 5-3 Vafaei (47-28)
A reprieve for Hossein! Mark misses a red with the rest to the bottom right, and his break stalls on 39. He has missed a few shockers today, and that's another. Hossein bravely converts a red along the bottom cushion and into the bottom left, and he's away. This is a chance he simply must convert, but he only gets a black thereafter before missing a red that may well cost him frame and match.
Williams 5-3 Vafaei (28-20)
Hosein comes up short from a deadweight safety again, conceding four, but he gets them straight back when Mark misses a thin contact safety. That leaves Hossein a mid-range cut on a red to the bottom right, but he cues it horribly and it's way off target. Is this the chance Mark needs for frame and match? He makes a plant into the right middle to get going, and he's on the green. Within a few pots he's into the lead and goes into the pack off the black; they've split, but he's only left with a long red to the yellow pocket. It's a big shot, and Mark nails it to hold for the brown. This is trouble for Hossein.
Williams 5-3 Vafaei (4-16)
Mark's pack-resting break is in operation again in frame nine, and he gets so much side on the white that it almost flicks the black on its way past. It's a cautious start, and Hossein gives away four when he shorts an effort to rest the white on the pack. Mark can't convert a red with the rest to follow, and he's left it for Hossein. Two reds and blacks are sunk, but the attempt to open the pack doesn't work out and Hossein rolls the white back to baulk.
Williams 5-3 Vafaei
It's one of snooker's great mysteries, how a player can go from not being able to hit water if they fell off a boat to nonchalantly clearing up in a heartbeat. Mark has done that here in frame eight, overcoming his earlier struggles to nudge in frame ball red to take his break to 62. He can't cut the pink in thereafter but he's covered the pocket, and with the final red right next to it Hossein concedes. If Mark can snag one more frame, he's in the final.
Williams 4-3 Vafaei (34-18)
There's an ironic celebration from Mark when he gets a red in, inducing many LOLs from the crowd. It's business face on thereafter though, and a lovely stun into the pack off the blue opens the frame right up for him. A simple run of stun and screw shots from here should be enough, because there is an absolute load on. Mark hits the front in the frame, and he shouldn't have to do too much with the white to put it in the bank quickly.
Williams 4-3 Vafaei (0-18)
A lot of mistakes packed on top of each other here in frame eight, as Mark misses two attempts at reds and Hossein one, all shots they'd usually convert. Eventually Hossein gets in, and he's on the black. Is the momentum swinging back his way here? Just as it appears to be, he misses an absolute shocker of a black off its spot! Oh my. That said, the 'oohs' have barely subsided when Mark misses an equally shocking red to bottom right! Bless this mess. Hossein adds another nine to his earlier nine, but how about this - he then misses a gun barrel straight black to bottom left! Dear me. The upshot of all that is that Mark is in - but for how long?
Williams 4-3 Vafaei
Hossein duly seals the frame, and he's closing in on a landmark - can he secure the 100th century of his career? He sure can, as he clangs the pink into the bottom right for the round ton. That's not all; Hossein empties the table, and it's a magnificent 135!
Williams 4-2 Vafaei (0-54)
It's a half-century for Hossein, his fourth of the day, and this is looking good for him. There are three open reds he can still play on, and that will be enough for the frame. Given the disappointment of losing the previous frame, this is an excellent response.
Williams 4-2 Vafaei (0-24)
Hossein stayed in his chair between frames, contemplating what just happened, while Mark left the arena. A long safety exchange opens frame seven, punctuated by a solitary long red from Hossein. A more adhesive chance follows as Mark misses a long red, allowing Hossein to plug a red into the left middle and get on the black. Within a few shots he gets a nice nudge on the pack, and this is a real scoring chance now.
Williams 4-2 Vafaei
Well now. Mark leaves Hossein a look at a cut on a blue to green pocket; Hossein butchers it, and it's a chance for Mark. He drives the blue long into the yellow pocket, and he's on the pink thin to the bottom right; Mark clips it in, goes in and out of baulk, and comes back down to land perfectly on the black for the frame! What a couple of shots there. Mark tidies up the black, and he's nicked a near 40 minute frame that could be crucial in this match.
Williams 3-2 Vafaei (47-58)
Now we get a fluke! Hossein mishits the brown completely and doubles it into the green pocket, that is simply outrageous! He apologises, and is then left with a cut on blue to left middle for the frame. He overcuts it, badly, and it runs safe. Whatever next? Mark needs the lot, Hossein needs the blue, and on it goes.
Williams 3-2 Vafaei (47-54)
Hossein leaves Mark a thin snick at the yellow to its own pocket. Mark drops it in, softly, and just about holds for the green to the same pocket. He rolls that deadweight too, and it doesn't go. This is such a tense stanza! MArk soon gets another look at the green, a long cut to the bottom right, but he can't drain that either; Hossein can though, but then hits across the brown and misses it to the green pocket! This is as edgy as anything with four balls left out there.
Williams 3-2 Vafaei (45-51)
Both reds are soon in play, and with the white on the bottom cushion Hossein has a look at one of them to the right middle. It's a big shot and he nails it, the frame now his to lose. A brilliant green to yellow, loaded with check side, gives him the chance of a frame-winning clearance on the colours; it's a long stretch...and he's missed it! The yellow runs safe, and this mini-epic of a frame continues.
Williams 3-2 Vafaei (45-42)
A quick red-black combo from Mark provides a flurry of action, but this is very bogged down now. Mark gives up four more when he shorts a deadweight safety; on connecting second time around everything appears safe, but Hossein tries to make a plant while using the rest. It's a phenomenally tough shot and it doesn't go close, and hands the initiative to Mark. Three reds, two blacks and a pink later, Mark's in the lead; Hossein returns and the two remaining reds are welded to the left rail. This is anyone's frame from here.
Williams 3-2 Vafaei (14-38)
Yet another promising break is nixed as Hossein misses a cut on a red to bottom left, and is lucky not to leave anything. Safety ensues, an exchange in which Mark gives away four, and we're locked into a battle on the final six reds. It's getting messy, and this one could need a bit of sorting out.
Williams 3-2 Vafaei (14-30)
Hossein takes his break to 30 after going up for the yellow, and follows it with a cracker; he stuns a red into the bottom right, flowering the pack open as he does so, and he's on the green. The frame is there for the taking now.
Williams 3-2 Vafaei (14-0)
Mark's in again, cutting a red into the left middle to hold for the blue. A trip into the pack off his next red follows, leaving a tough pink to the right middle. That goes as well, and leaves a brutally tough deadweight red to bottom right to hold for the black. Mark makes it again, a superb shot, but lands close to the black and leaves it hanging in the jaws of the bottom left after trying to stab it in. This is a big chance for Hossein.
Williams 3-2 Vafaei
It's another frame that needed two bites, as a further 37 from Mark restores his lead.
Williams 2-2 Vafaei (72-0)
Hossein drains a long red, but can't get on the blue; a containing safety from Mark follows, with calculated risk attached as there is a double on to the right middle. Hossein takes it on but can't convert it, and the target red lands as a straight pot for Mark to the right middle. That should be the frame, and a swift 34 from Mark ensures that it is so.
Williams 2-2 Vafaei (48-0)
It's another juddering end to a promising visit as Mark fails to slide around the back of the black and land on it, nixing his effort at 44 and leaving nothing on but dumping the white in baulk. There hasn't been a frame won in one visit as yet today, you sense that if either player could locate that zone for a few frames then it could be decisive.
Williams 2-2 Vafaei (25-0)
We're back, and it's an immediate chance for Mark as Hossein misses a thin contact safety and leaves a short plant for Mark to get in and onto the pink. It's a good chance, with the loose reds spread conveniently, and Mark starts filling his boots.
Williams 2-2 Vafaei
Sure enough Hossein zooms over the winning line, letting his arm go for his second half-ton of the frame. And with that 54, we go into the interval all square.
Williams 2-1 Vafaei (0-57)
Hossein rings in a half-century, and tries to open the remaining reds after potting the black. It's an awkward split, leaving a tough red to right middle to keep going, and he can't convert it. That leaves Mark a jab at a red long to the yellow pocket, and it rattles in the jaws and coughs out; with the red over the pocket surely Hossein will take the frame from here.
Williams 2-1 Vafaei (0-30)
It's the final frame before the mid-session interval. If Mark is furious with himself for letting Hossein off in frame three, he'll be apoplectic about this - a poor safety to start frame four leaves Hossein in the middle of the table with a tap-in to get going. It's a good chance, which Hossein takes to 30 and counting in no time. All of a sudden he looks focused and transformed out there.
Williams 2-1 Vafaei
Well, well, this is getting very interesting. Mark eventually leaves the red on to the right middle, and Hossein drains it. From there he clears up to the pink, and he's on the board.
Williams 2-0 Vafaei (44-66)
Hossein snookers Mark, only for Mark to escape with the old kick and stick to leave the white behind the black and the last red in baulk. Hossein can't escape, and compounds his ill fortune by hitting the black and leaving a free ball. The black is on the bottom right, and the whole frame is on, but what a shocker - Mark's missed it! I can't quite believe that, on we go.
Williams 2-0 Vafaei (37-66)
On 61 Hossein tries to force out the last red from near the left cushion. He does, but is only left with a blue that will take the white in and out of baulk to keep going. The pot goes, but Hossein isn't on the final red; we've still got a live one here, and a poor shot from Hossein leaves the final red on to the right middle. Mark can't drop the red in though, and it runs safe. Tension here in frame three!
Williams 2-0 Vafaei (37-46)
This is a big visit for Hossein, and he's taking them nicely as he dismantles Mark's lead in the frame. The break reaches 46, and a deft red to left middle clears a potting lane for two others. There are three reds to go and he'll need them all to secure the frame at this visit.
Williams 2-0 Vafaei (37-1)
Mark knows he's got his man under it here. When a trip into the pack off the black doesn't quite work out, Mark takes on a wafer thin cut from close quarters again, this time to the bottom left, but he overcuts it. That leaves Hossein a long-ish red to bottom right; he misses it, and thumps the butt of his cue on the floor thereafter. Mark can only respond with seven though, and is this Hossein's chance to get into the match? He's drained a red long to bottom left, and holds for the black.
Williams 2-0 Vafaei (22-0)
There's a little groan from the crowd here in Cheltenham as Mark opens frame three with that break-off of his, playing the white off the bottom cushion with side to rest on the back of the pack. Within a few shots Hossein has a yahoo at a long red to the green pocket, but it's a way off; he's not settled here at all, and Mark gets in with a mid-range red to bottom right. From there he's into the pack off the blue, and they split compliantly enough for him to start racking up points.
Williams 2-0 Vafaei
Another 20 from Mark sees it over the line, and Hossein isn't interested in continuing the argument in this one.
Williams 1-0 Vafaei (37-13)
Played, Hossein! After a containing safety from Mark leaves a red tight along the bottom cushion to bottom left, Hossein takes it on and drains it. A pressure pink to right middle follows, and he's given himself a chance here. Yet as soon he's crafted it, he chucks the advantage back to Mark; Hossein tries another pink to right middle, at pace, and the pocket coughs it out. The frame is Mark's to lose from here, because these final four reds are good to go.
Williams 1-0 Vafaei (37-5)
Hossein hasn't started well here. A sloppy safety leaves Mark a deadweight, no-risk red to right middle, and it's duly dispatched. Within a few shots he gives the bunch a crack when thumping the pink into the right middle, and what a split he's left with! Mark is in total charge here, and this looks bothersome for Hossein in frame two. As I type that Mark carelessly loses position and this fledgling effort comes to a halt on 27.
Williams 1-0 Vafaei (10-5)
Mark is out here being Mark, as he opens frame two by stroking in a long red with the insouciance of a man out for a Saturday lunchtime stroll through the park. It's a look at another telling visit, until he goes into the pack off the blue and lands on nothing, nixing his break on just 10. Hossein then gets in, red to bottom left, and is forced into taking a long green as a red has drifted over the bottom right. It's a big shot, and he nails it; he's out of position again after his next red though, and it's end of break.
Williams 1-0 Vafaei
We're done now, as Hossein drifts in-off while trying to lay a snooker. Mark gets ball in hand from the D, and mops up a further 12 for the frame.
Williams 0-0 Vafaei (66-30)
We'll keep trucking for a bit here, as Mark misses the final red to bottom right and Hossein returns to the table 36 behind with 35 out there.
Williams 0-0 Vafaei (51-30)
Oh what a pot from Mark! He goes into a group of reds by the pink and looks trapped, only to pull out a stunning, deft cut from close quarters on a red to right middle. That's a brilliant shot, and he's soon back at the business end of the table off the yellow. Chapeau to him for his moxie there, as it's surely won this opening frame.
Williams 0-0 Vafaei (32-30)
Clang, it's an abrupt end to the break; Hossein has a tough black to bottom right to keep going and can't convert it. He knew he'd be likely to leave a load on, and he has. Mark steps in, and within no time Hossein's slender lead is toast. There are six reds left out there and none of them are safe, so it's a great chance for Mark to apply maximum punishment to Hossein's miss.
Williams 0-0 Vafaei (0-29)
It's a confident start from Hossein. Mark leaves a red hovering near the bottom left from the break, and Hossein strokes it in to hold for the black. He's off to the races quickly, up to 29 so far, with the pink and black on and a good smattering of reds after a controlled run into the pack.
HERE WE GO
Our MC Tahir Hajat baizes the players, and we're ready to go. It's best of 11 for a place in tomorrow's final.
BACKING IT UP
This is the sixth semi-final of Hoseein’s career. Only once – at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out – has he kicked through this stage and reached the final. In pinching that one frame he went on to win the Shoot Out, but over a longer distance he still has something to prove. Hossein has been very complimentary about Mark in the build-up, which suggests some lessons learned from his broadside at Ronnie in Sheffield five months ago, which backfired and then some.
CWM MAN, FEEL THE NOISE
Mark’s 24th and most recent ranking event win was this very tournament two years ago, when he turned Gary Wilson over 6-4 in the final. He also won it way back in the mists of time in 1997, so a win here will tee him up for the hat-trick.
SEMI-FINAL SATURDAY
Good afternoon folks, we’re down to four in the British Open in Cheltenham. We’ll have coverage of both semi-finals for you today, with Xiao Guodong taking on Mark Selby in the evening though. First up though, a fascinating little Saturday matinee between Mark Williams and Hossein Vafaei.
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Welcome to semi-final Saturday
Join us from Saturday afternoon, when the final four players battle for a spot in the final of the British Open.
The semi-final line-up was confirmed last evening:
- Mark Selby v Xiao Guodong
- Hossein Vafaei v Mark Williams
Recap
Mark Selby is into the semi-final of the British Open after edging a 5-4 victory over Jack Lisowski in a Friday night thriller.
The four-time world champion prevailed in the decider after roaring back having lost the opening two frames in Cheltenham. He will play Xiao Guodong in Saturday's semi-final after the world No. 37 overcame Tom Ford 5-3.
Mark Williams, meanwhile, showed his class with a fine victory over Fan Zhengyi to advance into the last four. It was a very impressive display of snooker from the Welshman, who goes through to his 64th career semi-final.
Fan was ultimately outplayed on the day, with the peak of his match coming in the third frame when he cut the score to 2-1. Williams will face Hossein Vafaei next.
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