Selby eases into the last four of Tour Championship

MARK Selby swept past Kyren Wilson to move into the semi-finals of the Cazoo Tour Championship with a 10-3 win at Celtic Manor, writes PA Sport.

World number three Selby is looking to build on his victories at the European Masters and the Scottish Open ahead of next month’s World Championship.

Wilson, who was runner-up at the Crucible in 2020, claimed the opening frame on Wednesday afternoon, but Selby produced clearances of 109, 81 and 54 to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval.

A break of 83 saw Wilson reduce the deficit, only for Selby to take the next two frames.

Selby then capitalised on Wilson’s miss of a thin black with the rest to reel off a run of 67 and cement his advantage.

The Jester from Leicester maintained his momentum at the start of Wednesday’s evening session with an 84 clearance.

Although Wilson got another frame on the board when he capitalised on a return to the table to produce a 75 break, Selby soon closed in on victory, which was sealed with a clearance of 88 followed by another halfcentury.

Selby, right, will play Neil Robertson today for a place in the final, with the Australian having seen off Jack Lisowski on Tuesday.

Three-time world champion Selby feels things are coming together nicely ahead of the World Championship, which starts in Sheffield on April 17.

“I felt comfortable in my own game and confident I was going to win the match, but I did not expect for it to be that score,” Selby said. “Kyren started off well in the first frame and had a chance in the second, which if he goes 2-0, it is a totally different game.

“But once he had missed that red, I felt I controlled the match, scored quite well when I got my chances, my safety was good, so overall it was a good performance.

“I have another tough game ahead (against Robertson), and (playing) anybody in this tournament is like a final.

“This is a perfect tournament build up before the World Championship, with it being best of 19.

“You can’t get better match preparation than this, and against the players who are here.

“I want to win, but if I don’t, well I played well today, so I know my game is in good shape and we will just see what happens.”