Kyren Wilson and David Gilbert could not be separated at the end of the first game of the World Snooker Championship semi-final at the Crucible.
They drew 4-4 with Wilson, the only seed in the tournament, having to fight back from 3-2 down and then 4-3 down in what was a very balanced all-England match.
The tension clearly affected both players’ starts, but Wilson took the match away with a 73 to start the match. A nice long red in the second boded well for Wilson, but errors continued to plague both players, with Gilbert missing a routine black that ultimately cost him in the third.
The 42-year-old from Derby said he had the match delayed due to crowd unrest, with referee Tatiana Woolaston asking for mobile phones to be turned off for the second time during the match. He scored his 100th point of the match in the fourth inning, recovering from the distraction and hitting a 104 heading into the break to tie the score at 2-2.
Gilbert’s momentum remained strong as he shot 91 to take the fifth frame, and despite a nice long red card in the sixth, a disappointing error allowed Wilson to get back into the game and he took his chance. , shot a single stroke of 67.
Gilbert continued to play better snooker to take seventh, but in the final frame of the match the balance shifted significantly as Wilson found his rhythm and shot an unchallenged 88 to leave the Spectators expected a possible 147.
Newsletter Promotion Post
Wilson told BBC Two he received pushback from his brother Taylor for trying to shoot 147 rather than focusing on winning the frame. “My brother scolded me! You want to put on a show for the crowd, that’s why I tried to shoot a cheeky 147. “It was a good match, very open and aggressive. There were a lot of good breaks.
