| Conference location: Crucible Theater, Sheffield Events: April 17th – May 3rd |
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Shaun Murphy made a remarkable turnaround to beat Kyren Wilson and advance to the World Championship final.
Murphy, 10-4 and 11-6 behind, won all five frames after the match resumed at 12-12pm on Saturday night.
The 2005 champ put together breaks of 78, 91, 117, 77 and 58 to seal his 17-12 win.
Murphy meets Mark Selby or Stuart Bingham in the final. The match should be restarted after it was stopped due to overflow.
Three-time champion Selby is within a frame of his fifth world final after coming from behind to lead Bingham at 16:15 on a stressful affair.
Selby lay between 13 and 11 overnight, pausing 125 and 132 to lead 16-14 before Bingham responded with an underpressure of 85, which was the precursor to a game break – the first time becoming the last session of a world semis final interrupted.
Former world champion Ken Doherty said on BBC Two: “It’s unfortunate they had to jump but that’s the rule.
“The guys who come in are preparing for their semi-finals and it’s not fair if they have to wait.
“I feel sorry for these guys [Mark Selby and Stuart Bingham] because they were involved in such a vibrant match with so much at stake. ”
Selby and Bingham are approaching a target
Bingham, who won the title in 2015, is hoping to be just the fourth qualifier to win the tournament after Alex Higgins (1972), Terry Griffiths (1979) and Murphy (2005).
But now he’s got everything to do after he appeared to be suffocated by Selby over the course of several lengthy images.
An excellent long red kick started Selby’s resuscitation as he took a break from 68 to get started.
And then he drew tied with a brilliant 125 after a lengthy frame that saw a double rack for the second time in the match, tied at 13:13.
In front of a crowd of 444 Crucible, the tournament’s biggest to date, Bingham responded superbly with a 100 hiatus that kicked off the 101st century of the championship and beat the 2019 marker to set a new record.
Selby then won the next three frames, however, a run that included a break of 132 to take a 16-14 lead before Bingham held his nerve to extend the match.
Murphy’s march to the final
Murphy’s appearance at the evening event was a continuation of the dominance he displayed throughout the morning to fight back a stalled Wilson.
World number six Wilson looked strong favorites to make it to the finals for the second year in a row as he took over the opening frame of the day.
Towards the end, however, he was unable to stop the momentum that drove Murphy to a fourth Crucible final on Sunday.
Days after the suggestion that he had consider finished Snooker, Murphy’s triumph came on what he described as the “greatest day” of his snooker life for six years.
And the changing tone of the game and determination was underscored by a great long black that sparked a fist-pump celebration and a “come on” cry as the 2005 champion won frame 21 to cut his arrears to 12-9.
While Wilson will remorsefully point out a couple of unfortunate in-offs, he was the last to be vastly outdone in the match, recording just 60 points in the last five frames.
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