Tour Championship snooker 2023 as it happened - Mark Selby beats Ryan Day in final quarter-final
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ByEurosport
Updated 30/03/2023 at 21:55 GMT
Welcome to Eurosport's coverage of the Tour Championship with the last of the quarter-finals pitting Mark Selby against Ryan Day. The winner will take on Shaun Murphy, who produced a stirring comeback to beat Robert Milkins. Ding Junhui faces Kyren Wilson in the other semi on Saturday. Stream top snooker action, including the World Championship, live on discovery+
'I've been suffering for a few years silently' - Emotional Selby on journey to English Open title
That's us done for today
We'll see you tomorow at 12.30pm BST for Kyren Wilson v Ding Junhui. Not bad!
Mark Selby beats Ryan Day 10-7!
That was a really fun match. Mark played pretty well for most of it, then when he didn't, he did enough when he really had to. Ryan, meanwhile, found some form; his problem is the gulf between his top and bottom levels, but no one will want him in qualifying for the Cruce. Mark, meanwhile, meets Shaun Murphy on Saturday.
Selby 9-7 Day (77-0)
Ryan bins all the reds bar the last then tries his snooker, but Mark hits easily, via swerve.
Selby 9-7 Day (77-0)
Ryan looks up at the ceiling as Mark completes matters - and he'll want to do with a ton, I'm sure. But as I type that, he underhits a red to left corner, and Ryan returns to the table needing two snookers. Good luck, old mate.
Selby 9-7 Day (47-0)
Mark is taking these like someone who's been waiting for them, and he's sending them down with such calm authority. A pressure-pot to left-middle is cracked into the leather, and by the looks of things, Ryan is going to qualifying and Garry Wilson is going directly to the Cruce.
Selby 9-7 Day (9-0)
Ryan is distraught. He leaves a red over left corner, Mark deadweights it in, finishes on the black, and having not potted a ball for half an hour, he's got a chance to pot several.
Selby 9-7 Day
Ryan's playing with real zest now, and he's on a roll! This did not look likely at all earlier, but we got ourselves a ball-game! Mark will be struggling not to feel the pressure, because no one wants to lose from 8-2 up.
Selby 9-6 Day (0-54)
On 49, Ryan runs out of position, so Mark has a proper go at a red to left corner, sending a message that he's looking to get this done. He misses, though, then watches his opponent clobber one into right corner before nuzzling in behind the brown. With reds scattered, it'll be hard not to leave one ... and Mark misses, leaving everything. You don't often see that!
Selby 9-6 Day (0-42)
Ryan's really into this now - he believes, and didn't earlier. If Ryan were to win this, from 2-8 down, making a 147 and a 16-red clearance, it would truly be one of the most insane acts ever seen in this thing of ours.
Selby 9-6 Day (0-14)
If Ryan can win one more, Mark will start feeling it, and playing a thin contact, he catches the middle jaw; this'll set Ryan away nicely.
Selby 9-6 Day
Ryan makes a 136 16-red total clearance! To go with his 147 of earlier! Superb behaviour!
Selby 9-5 Day (0-71)
He cannot, but a nice red, poked obliquely to left-middle, more or less secures the frame. lt'll be tough to make a ton - or a 16-red total clearance! - from here, because the last five reds are still clustered ... but Ryan splits them and looks good for it!
Selby 9-5 Day (0-25)
Left in a tight spot, Mark foul-misses twice, leaving a free ball the second time around, and Ryan isn't rolling up. So he digs into a brown and it disappears down left-middle - that's a great pot - and he's fighting hard to stay in this match. Can he make something bigger than the 147 he nailed earlier?
Selby 9-5 Day
That was very good from Mark, two calm runs averting the rot and taking him one away. Ryan will be spewing.
Selby 8-5 Day (50-37)
Mark chips a starter into right corner, develops the final red off the blue, and has a tight cut to despatch it, climbing over the table. He bins it well, goes in and out of baulk, and the frame should be his from here.
Selby 8-5 Day (43-37)
Mark patiently removes balls with baulk colours and the occasional blue, but misses a cannon on one tricky red so has to go again, off the brown ... and he goes around the back of it! The frame is still in the balance!
Selby 8-5 Day (16-37)
Aaaarrrgghhh! Ryan rams home a pink down a straight diag, but catches it just a little thick and consequently yanks the white back into left-middle! And the reds are scattered too, though almost all in the bottom half of the table, meaning it might be tricky to compile enough points not to need the one on the side rail.
Selby 8-5 Day (0-29)
If Ryan loses tonight, both Ding and Gazza Wilson will qualify for the Cruce as top-16 players, but he's starting to believe, you can tell. He need at least one more before Mark wins another, though, and he just might because Mark's gone off, missing a red to right-middle. Ryan, on the other hand, is enjoying himself, rattling in a starter and then cutting a beautiful one into left-middle. In comms, Phil Yates reckons he's playing better now than at any point since winning the British Open in October.
Selby 8-5 Day
A terrific double takes Ryan to 75, and though he misses the yellow thereafter, he won't mind at all. He's averted embarrassment, and is he making a match of this?
Selby 8-4 Day (1-50)
Ryan's found some form, removing balls with minimum fuss, until it's time to cannon the pack; he does gently off the blue, and it works well! this is a proper chance now!
Selby 8-4 Day (1-1)
Ryan leaves one to right corner that Mark drains, but he doesn't quite nail his safety, hitting the baulk cushion but not finding a snooker behind the yellow. He does next go, though, and that is, as Angles says "a work of art". What a player! Ryan escapes though, and when he rams in a long red, a gorgeous cannon leaves him nicely on the black. If he can nab this frame too, we might just have waselves a ball-game!
We go again...
Selby 8-4 Day
Well played Ryan Day! Not long ago, it looked like he might be out of there at the interval, but actually he's still in the match!
Selby 8-3 Day (54-56)
Ryan's right behind the pink ... and he cracks it to left corner!
Selby 8-3 Day (54-50)
Oh! Mark misses a mid-distance yellow them next shot, leaves it long! Can Ryan get onto the green? Er, sort of. It's a thinnest cut, across the baulk line ... and it's there! But he cannons the blue going back for brown, meaning another toughie ... and that's there too! But getting onto pink from blue won't be easy...
Selby 8-3 Day (47-41)
Mark plays a fine shot to bin the penultimate red, then off the black he finds another lovely effort to get in behind the final one, on the side rail. If he can drop it in with the rest extension he'll get natural position on the black, and this looks like one away! This is a brilliant run, and it's only 12 points!
Selby 8-3 Day (35-41)
Mark gets in next and the reds are pretty spread, three of them on rails. But Mark makes a really good start to the break, eliminating the easier balls nicely ... before a misjudgement means he's to play safe. And, of course, he does so really well, immediately releasing his disappointment, and immediately earning another starter.
Selby 8-3 Day (14-41)
Playing to cannon what remains of the cluster, Ryan winds up on nowt, so plays a gorgeous pot long to the yellow bag. But a big kiss off the black means he's really on nowt, and that's end of break.
Selby 8-3 Day (14-28)
A good safety from Ryan forces Mark to play onto a ball on the top rail, leaving one to right-middle, but he misses the pot. No matter: Mark then misses to left corner, and this is a chance.
Selby 8-3 Day (14-11)
Mark runs out of position, sustains the break with one recovery pot, then park the white on the bottom cushion; of course he does.
Selby 8-3 Day (8-11)
Ryan gets in via tremendous double, but pulling up short potting the blue, he makes the next red much harder, missing it across the table to right corner, and hands Mark another chance. He'll need to break the pack soon enough, but the way he's playing, there's every chance he does so nicely.
Selby 8-3 Day
Ryan bags the green and takes his first frame of the evening, but how hard he was made to work for it!
Selby 8-2 Day (40-68)
WITH GOOD REASON! He pins white to black, and the green is on the side, kissing the brown; if Ryan goes past it, there'll be a free ball, but the line is good, it's just too slow. Still, that's one snooker, and Mark goes again trying to slide off the green and past the brown, but he can't hide all of it and Ryan hits.
Selby 8-2 Day (36-68)
Mark eventually finds his snooker, behind the blue; Ryan hits, and Mark has no choice but to remove the final red, then a black and the yellow. He still thinks he's going to do this, freak of nature that he is.
Selby 8-2 Day (26-68)
Ryan gets his red, via double, but Mark returns to the table needing two snookers and after a few red-blacks, lays his first; Ryan hits.
Selby 8-2 Day (11-67)
Ach! With just one red required, Ryan loses the white, so sits down after sending a ball safe, the 67 he made his second-highest break of the match - after that 147.
Selby 8-2 Day (11-47)
Good work from Ryan, ramming home a black to come off the top and get onto the next red, which he drains via spider. There's no reason to think he won't take the frame at this visit and keep the match going beyond the interval.
Selby 8-2 Day (11-0)
Knowing he's to make something happen, Ryan opens the pack, but neglects the safety bit of his attacking safety, leaving a red to left corner with the white not far from the baulk line. Mark clouts it down the hole supremely, then after a poor positional shot, wobbles in a yellow with the rest. He's still more to do to get back into prime position, though, missing the next ball by plenty, and Ryan has another chance.
Selby 8-2 Day
Yup, 67 and the frame! Mark needs just two more, and Ryan is done for.
Selby 7-2 Day (51-45)
Mark gets in behind the railed red and sinks it, then does likewise with one close to the side, getting a nice angle on the blue for the yellow. This looks like 8-2, and Ryan will be cursing having spurned another chance.
Selby 7-2 Day (26-46)
Oh Ryan. He runs out of position so from directly above a red, in mid-table, he tries a clip to right corner and misses by a distance; chance for Mark, though the balls aren't east and he'll need the one on the top rail.
Selby 7-2 Day (16-24)
Oh, Mark misses a red to right-middle - who saw that coming?! - and Ryan has another chance, opening with a nice knuck to left corner.
Selby 7-2 Day (3-16)
Ach, Ryan runs out of position then Mark attempts a double and gets close, but have a look! He pins white to baulk rail, then uses the upper hand that shot gives him to send a lovely opener to left corner. He's feeling himself!
Selby 7-2 Day (1-0)
Ahhhh man, there are a group of silver pool players in the crowd, all wearing their club shirts. Cute! Meantime, Ryan misses a red to left corner off Mark's break; Mark misses; Ryan misses; Mark misses. I did not expect that last one, which was pretty close to right corner already, and Ryan now has a chance he must surely take.
Selby 7-2 Day
Yes he can, another red to middle disappearing the only remaining difficult ball. Ryan will have tried to convince himself he could mount a comeback, and crushing him so quickly and emphatically is what champions do. A total clearance of 131, and what a start that is from Mark!
Selby 6-2 Day (70-0)
A lovely recovery pot, red sent long to green, probably secures the frame, and Mark - who won the WST Classic the other week - is in terrific touch. Can he convert?
Selby 6-2 Day (34-0)
If Mark sees this frame away, I'd not be shocked if he was home by the mid-sesh, because Ryan will know he's done for. He's cueing nicely too, powering in a blue to force an angle on the next red, and this looks ominous.
Selby 6-2 Day (8-0)
I've not a clue how Ryan does this, because Mark will win the majority of the safety, but he's also potting nicely. Yes he is! Butt in the air, he digs down on the white to send a starter racing to left-middle, a black follows, and he's away!
The boyz baize...
Before this match
I couldn't see a way for Ryan. Halfway through it, I still can't.
We go again
Ryan has a lot of work to do.
That's us done for the afternoon
Join me again at 6.30pm BST to see what happens next!
Selby 6-2 Day
Mark flukes another snooker, drains the green off the back of it, and he's well on course for the semis - though as time passes, Ryan's maxi will be what we remember from this afternoon.
Selby 5-2 Day (66-40)
More goes from Ryan, then Mark misses a yellow to left-middle; Ryan gets rid, the develops the black off the green, which is now cushioned. We've been going more than 40 minutes with this frame now and it's looked like Ryan's going to lose it for almost all of them - especially when it looks like the green is going to left corner, then rebounding to right-middle ... but it misses both.
Selby 5-2 Day (66-38)
Ryan misses once, hitting the black, then hits and goes in-off; he now needs a snooker to win the frame and starts his quest well, chipping the tightest one into the green bag and getting in behind the brown, near the right side, with the yellow away over the side. Ach, and Mark hits off the middle jaw! Ryan laughs, but he'll be gutted because it looked like he had that.
Selby 5-2 Day (55-30)
Mark snookers himself off that black, though, which returns between cue-ball and object-ball. But he hits off the side easily enough, then they tap about before Ryan sends red and pink down the table; naturally Mark escapes what looks a good snooker and flukes one of his own.
Selby 5-2 Day (48-30)
Ach, Ryan misses one to left corner, just, which means it's there for Mark - and allows him to get the black back on its spot. He's still got plenty to, with one red on the side and one on the top, but he gets on the former, pokes it to right corner with the rest, gets onto the black, and is now a warm favourite for the frame.
Selby 5-2 Day (31-24)
Ryan escapes second go, then Mark takes a red and green - bit by bit, he's inching towards 6-2 - but a poor shot allows Ryan to ramrod one along the top rail, and suddenly he's got a glimmer. There are, though, still three reds on cushions, pink and black too so this'd be some run if he could win the frame at this visit.
Selby 5-2 Day (23-12)
Ryan can't make much of what's barely a chance and frustrated, he plays a dreadful safety, the white catching the middle jaws. In co-comms, Nealf has some thoughts, saying you don't expect to see that at this level and Mark never would. Mark does, though, miss his starter, and this frame is now officially a mess, reds all blocking each other and near the top rail. The Jester does, though, find one he can pot and Ryan is going in behind green and broon, near the bottom cushion. Good luck, old mate.
Selby 5-2 Day (22-0)
The pack yields nada when Mark breaks it so he plays safe and soon finds himself snookered when Ryan plays in behind the green off a stray red in baulk. In comms, Phil Yates says no one's better and escaping and leaving nowt than Mark, but even he will struggle here ... and he plays a beauty, kissing a red on the final roll. He then hammers down lovely starter ... only to miss a much easier pink! So here comes Ryan, with reds available but pink and black tied up.
Selby 5-2 Day (15-0)
Mark plays a good safety and Ryan can't find a decent riposte - though all he leaves is a shot-to-nothing to the yellow. Mark takes it on with safety in mind and misses, but Ryan then misses an easier ball to the same hole and leaves a chance.
Selby 5-2 Day
Excellent from Mark, who's back playing nicely. He strokes in a 132 and if he can win the last of the afternoon, he'll fancy a speedy evening. Either way, he'll start the session with a lead.
Selby 4-2 Day (43-0)
Mark rides a few loose shots, rescuing himself with pots, and assuming he closes out from here, Ryan has a colossal frame in front of him when he's finished.
Selby 4-2 Day (8-0)
Mark nails a starter to left corner, but on nowt, eases the white to the bottom rail and shonuff it soon has him back at the table with reds AOTS, Ryan having clobbered the pack for him. This should be 5-2.
Selby 4-2 Day
Yup, Mark does the necessary, making his third 70+ break of the match. Ryan needs at least one of the afternoon's final two frames.
Selby 3-2 Day (50-8)
Mark splits the pack nicely, and he'd have to make a serious ricket not to clinch the frame at this visit.
Selby 3-2 Day (18-8)
But here's another chance, because Ryan misses one to right corner taken on with no prospect of cover, and Mark starts authoritatively - with points to be had.
Selby 3-2 Day (10-8)
It's Mark in first in frame six, but he's soon hanging his head after missing a regulation red to left corner. Ryan, though, can't make hay, and this is turning into a slog.
Selby 3-2 Day
Yep, Ryan sorts it eventually, and not long since looking like he was there to accept a beating and leave, he's now within one. This game!
Selby 3-1 Day (11-53)
But he cannot, a poor positional shot forcing a difficult pot with the rest which he can't see away. No matter, Mark leaves him one to the yellow pocket and this is another eminently presentable opportunity.
Selby 3-1 Day (11-44)
It's been a low-quality frame so far, and a miss from Mark - after Ryan gets away with a dreadful shot - offers a chance. But a poor pot means he refuses a green to right-middle; no matter, he's soon back at the tale and with a pretty decent chance to secure the frame and halve the deficit.
Selby 3-1 Day (11-30)
He cannot, going in-off, but then Ryan, potting a red nicely, does likewise, and Mark tries a plant as a shot to nothing ... which goes down! Except he then misses a green to left-middle, his saving grace he didn't get onto anything to the point where it's not actually clear what he thought he was getting onto.
Selby 3-1 Day (1-30)
Ryan comes down for the blue and poor positional shot means he's to take one on to right corner ... which he misses by a distance. Can Mark capitalise?
Selby 3-1 Day (0-24)
Mark leaves a ball over left corner and Ryan gets it bagged, then starts disappearing reds and blacks. We've been here before...
We go again...
Selby 3-1 Day
Mark leaves blue near the green pocket ... and Ryan butchers it, cueing right across the white. So Mark sends it down, and that'll be enough for a two-frame advantage at the interval. A maxi is a maxi, but you only get one for it (and 10 grand).
Selby 2-1 Day (74-58)
Or not! Ryan plays a poor black, doesn't get on the yellow, and a poor safety allows Mark to take command of the exchange. He lays a snooker that yields a foul, adds the yellow ... but then when he can't drain the green, finds himself in a snooker and there's a rarity: he can't escape! So, chance for Ryan to nab an increasingly edgy frame! Except he makes a mistake that means he can't get on the blue so has to play a snooker behind the pink; Mark escapes well, and flukes a snooker of his own! This has become a very strange frame indeed.
Selby 2-1 Day (67-38)
Eh?! Mark misses that ball along the rail - "You've got to say that was a bit of a twitch," says Stephen, but Ryan, clearing it up, plays a poor shot so will have to bin the last red via double ... which he does! Excellent pot, and this looks like a steal and 2-2!
Selby 2-1 Day (52-30)
It's a real Mark frame, is this, and he gets in ... but developing reds by cannoning the pink, he's unlucky to land on nothing easy. No matter: he sends a lovely red long to the green bag, follows it with a nice pink, and he's building a lead - though he'll need three of the four remaining reds, which means one of the two on the top rail.
Selby 2-1 Day (31-30)
Yup, Mark soon runs out of position and the way the balls are, blocking each other about the black and near the cushion, we might be here a while.
Selby 2-1 Day (24-30)
Ryan takes the balls nicely, building a lead and inadvertently using the corner jaws to get onto the yellow; have the Snooker Gods switched sides? Er, no; as soon as I type that, he misses that yellow thinking about position, and Mark gets to work - though the table is unfriendly.
Selby 2-1 Day (17-4)
Ryan misses to left corner when he shouldn't - the euphoria has receded. But the balls are strangely positioned, so no harm done, and when Mark catches the jaw of right-middle, he leaves a chance...
Selby 2-1 Day (13-0)
Ryan takes a while out of the arena to compose himself - that run is worth £10,000, provided no one else makes a maxi this week. Anyhow, Mark is back in mark-mode, nailing a starter; he's on nowt, but plays in behind the yellow - not tight - and Ryan, trying to get everything safe, foul-misses four times before hitting nicely.
Ryan Day makes a 147!
Selby 2-1 Day
He punches the air and there's some real relief there! Mark offers warm congratulations, praising, I think, the only really tough shot he left himself save the opener - that last red to the yellow pocket - and do we got ourselves a ball-game? Ryan needed to make something happen - he was playing like a drain - and he did. Goodness me, this game!
Selby 2-0 Day (0-113)
Ryan gets a nice angle on the black and floats up to the baulked ball ... but is he straight on it? Oh yes! He powers it home, gets onto the black, and that is perfect! What a shot! But that - that being the next shot, under-screwed so the final red need to be cut long to the yellow bag - is not. No matter! He sends it down beautifully, and the maxi is his for the taking! This has been a brilliant break, his cue-ball control near-perfect, save that last shot. COME ON RYAN!
Selby 2-0 Day (0-88)
Frame secure, Ryan can concentrate on the maxi, and he's looking good. Even the red near the yellow pocket isn't too tricky, and this is all because he nailed that lovely starter.
Selby 2-0 Day (0-65)
Faced with a blue or black call - blue is easier - Ryan goes black. He knows it's on, though there's one red way down in baulk. Come on Ryan!
Selby 2-0 Day (0-40)
Five reds and five blacks for Ryan, balls quite nicely spread....
Selby 2-0 Day (0-9)
Mark's getting the run of the balls here, missing a red hard and leaving nowt easy. But what a pot Ryan finds, clouting hard to right corner; can he capitalise? He needs to, and our match needs him to.
Selby 2-0 Day
Ryan's only potted two balls so far, and the even worse news for him is that Mark can play better than he is.
Selby 1-0 Day (51-1)
Mark digs into the pack but finds it unresponsive, so we're back playing safety with loads on. So Mark leaves Ryan knuckled in the green jaws, the mistake duly follows, and a mid-distance red means 2-0 seems imminent.
Selby 1-0 Day (26-1)
A poor safety from Ryan means he's soon playing from the baulk rail, so he tries to pot his way out of trouble, can't, and Mark is back removing spheres.
Selby 1-0 Day (23-1)
Mark runs out of position, which seems like good news for Ryan, except he's now tight behind the yellow not sat in his seat ... but he finds a good escape, swerving onto the side and judging the pace really well to land in the cluster. And he sinks the next pot too ... only to miss a pressure broon to right-middle - he knocks it straight, when straight was never taking it in; "lot of body-movement," advises Stephen.
Selby 1-0 Day (22-0)
Ryan is not going to like his. He dangles a potential starter, Mark takes it on ... and pots it in left corner off another red nearby. "He's scoring well, playing good safety and getting flukes," says Stephen. "Good luck." I don't know, best of 19 is a lot, but this felt like a hiding before we started and a frame plus change in, it really feels like a hiding.
Selby 1-0 Day
Mark exhibitions the black at the end of a 77 clearance, and Ryan is not only in for a long day, but you sense that he knows it.
Selby 0-0 Day (82-1)
Ryan's here largely because he won the British Open, but that was in October and he arrived here having sorted two matches since December - and even at the top of his game I'd not back him over the stretch against Mark.
Selby 0-0 Day (50-1)
Surprisingly, it's Ryan who wins the safety exchange, but after sinking a starter he misses a simple blue to middle, and Mark will surely secure the frame at this visit.
Selby 0-0 Day (45-0)
How good would it be if Mark rediscovered his best form in time for the Cruce? What a factor that'd be! Meantime, he picks off the loose reds, then tries to get into the cluster off the green ... and misses it completely. Still, that's a decent start, and we're back playing safety.
Selby 0-0 Day (8-0)
All our experts think Mark will pull away here, and Ryan starts poorly, sending one long to left corner, missing, and leaving it for Mark to right. With the black available to both corners and plenty of reds loose, there are points out there for him.
Our boys baize...
Ryan speaks
He needs to win today to try and qualify automatically for the Worlds; similarly, Ding must win tomorrow to oust Gary Wilson from the top 16. He doesn't sound especially confident, saying he knows he can play well but he's inconsistent, and it's a while since he won a match. In such circumstances, Mark Selby - even this version of him - is the last person you want to play.
Today we have...
Mark Selby v Ryan Day
Not bad.
Afternoon all!
And welcome to the 2023 Tour Championship - day four!
Tour Championship quarter-final schedule
Monday March 27
13:00 and 19:00
- Mark Allen 5-10 Ding Junhui
Tuesday March 28
13:00 and 19:00
- Ali Carter 4-10 Kyren Wilson
Wednesday March 29
13:00 and 19:00
- Shaun Murphy 10-8 Robert Milkins
Thursday March 30
13:00 and 19:00
- Mark Selby v Ryan Day
Murphy avenges Welsh Open defeat with comeback win over Milkins
Shaun Murphy went some way to avenging the Welsh Open final loss to Robert Milkins as he came from behind to beat the 'Milkman' 10-8 and claim his place in the Tour Championship semi-final.
Trailing 5-1 and then 6-3 at one stage and with history looking destined to repeat itself, Murphy rallied to win five consecutive frames, holding his nerve to see the job through.
He will play Mark Selby or Ryan Day next.
"A few years ago that's the type of match I wouldn't have won, you know," Murphy told ITV afterwards. "I was known for only being able to really to win if I burst the lights out, whereas that's changed.
"It took me a bit longer than some of my peers to get that B and C game, but I have got it now. I will have a bit of patience and I will wait."
Read the full story here.
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