Tour Championship snooker 2024: Gary Wilson beats Mark Selby, Ali Carter in command against Barry Hawkins
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Updated 02/04/2024 at 16:34 GMT
Gary Wilson booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Tour Championship with a hard-fought 10-8 win over Mark Selby. Wilson began the session with a 5-3 lead and kept Selby at bay, sealing his progress with a century to set up a last-eight clash with Zhang Anda. On the other table, Ali Carter reeled off seven frames in a row to lead Barry Hawkins 7-1.
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Gary Wilson battled to a 10-8 victory over Mark Selby to move into the quarter-finals of the Tour Championship in Manchester.
Wilson struggled to match his form of the first session but dug deep to keep Selby at bay, sealing his progress with a composed clearance of 105.
Wilson will play China’s Zhang Anda in the last eight, with the first session getting underway on Wednesday at 13:00 BST.
Selby was trailing 5-3 after the first session on Monday but immediately halved his deficit. Having ended Monday’s session with a break of 71, he repeated the feat to put the pressure on Wilson.
Selby was coming off the back of a final defeat in the World Mixed Doubles event in Manchester at the weekend, while Wilson has the Scottish and Welsh Opens to his name.
A few visits were needed from Wilson to re-establish a two-frame lead, and he made it three when he notched a 57 break to give him an ominous lead with the momentum behind him.
Four-time world champion Selby kept himself in the match by scrapping to win the next frame before the mid-session interval and then got back within one at 7-6 down.
Wilson fought back to arrest Selby’s comeback by winning his eighth frame and had a gilt-edged chance to go 9-6 clear, but a dreadful miss let the former world No. 1 off the hook.
To his credit, Wilson came through a tight 16th frame to put himself on the verge of victory at 9-7 but a rapid 90 in response from Selby kept his hopes alive.
The Jester from Leicester had a chance to take it to a decider but missed a red to the left middle and Wilson cleared the table for a century to seal an impressive win and set up a clash with Zhang.
Carter takes command against Hawkins
On the other table, Ali Carter dominated the first session of his clash with Barry Hawkins, opening up a 7-1 lead to get within three of victory.
The Captain has enjoyed a resurgent run of form this season, reaching the final of the Masters and the Wuhan Open.
Hawkins has also enjoyed spells of success this campaign, winning the European Masters in August of last year, but struggled to live with Carter in a one-sided session.
Hawkins took the opener with a break of 84 before losing the next seven frames, scoring less than 100 points in that barren run.
Carter responded to going behind with a half-century of his own to level things at 1-1 before he took advantage of a Hawkins miss to make a 51 that was built around the blue ball and move ahead.
Carter scored 83 in the next to go 3-1 clear, with Hawkins managing just two points in the three frames before the interval.
A clearance for 135, his 417th career century, saw Carter make it 4-1 before the snooker gods looked favourably on him in the sixth.
Hawkins had 23 points on the board when a wild fluke in Carter’s favour saw a red drop and left him perfectly on the black, which was resting on the brown spot.
He moved onto 94 with another slice of luck to pot the final pink, although he missed the remaining black for another century.
Carter then made it 6-1 ahead of the session’s final frame, which was keenly contested.
Hawkins had a chance to pinch it and give himself some hope for the evening return when Carter missed a tricky pink, but he was unable to convert and now has a mountain to climb to get back into the match.
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