Luca Brecel produced the greatest ever Crucible comeback as he won 11 frames in a row against Si Jiahui while Mark Selby held off a Mark Allen fightback in a match that finished after midnight to set up a mouthwatering World Snooker Championship final.
After the amazing comeback in the afternoon by Brecel, it looked as if there could be another as Allen, trailing 16-10, started pegging Selby back. The Northern Irishman won five frames in a row and his opponent, a four-time world champion, was looking jittery but managed to get over the line 17-15 at 12.45am.
Earlier Brecel, who conquered Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-final, looked certain to be heading home as he trailed 14-5 in the race to 17 after a dominant opening by Si. But he won the final five frames of Friday’s night session and offered up more of the same on Saturday afternoon to complete a remarkable 17-15 victory.
Brecel became the first player in Crucible history to overturn a nine-frame deficit and booked his first final in Sheffield, having never previously got past the first round.
It was difficult not to feel some sympathy for Si, who at 20 looked set to become the youngest Crucible finalist in history, as he looked increasingly solemn in his chair as Brecel kept on winning frame after frame.
To his credit he stopped Brecel’s run at 11 in a row with a composed break of 91 and then had chances to send the match into a final-frame decider before a clipped red along the cushion allowed the Belgian to seal a famous victory.
Brecel said: “At 14-12, 14-13 I knew I had a chance, but I think 14-14 I was really believing it because I could see he was struggling and I was playing great stuff. But I knew I could have lost as well. To win is absolutely unbelievable, it is the biggest game of my life. I was in disbelief, I was shaking.
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“The whole game I was expecting to lose, even with a session to spare, so to even have a chance to win was the craziest feeling ever in my body and I can’t believe I did it.
“I have never won a game here and now I am in the final, it is some story. It is going to take a while to sink in.”
Si hopes the punishing loss can help him become a better player. “I was feeling kind of disappointed, but not very, he played nearly perfect snooker in the final two sessions and my safety let me down. I have realised there are flaws in my game, there are so many things I can still improve, so in the coming season I will be confident I can beat anyone.”
Selby started the morning session leading Allen 7-6 and they shared the eight frames to leave Selby 11-10 in front. In the evening the Leicester potter won five in a row to go 16-10 ahead and needing only one more frame.
But at this point the sight of the winning line seemed to affect him and he started missing easy pots. Allen, encouraged by this, worked his way back into the match. Though not at his best, he produced some cracking pots when he needed to as he began to claw back his deficit.
The clock ticked past midnight but the crowd at the Crucible were going nowhere, enthralled by a tense battle, very different to the first semi-final but nail-biting in its own way.
In the end Selby prevailed to set up a final of contrasting styles: the flair and showmanship of Brecel, who had never previously been past the first round at the Crucible, against the obdurate tactical prowess of the four-time champion Selby. It promises to be an intriguing match.
