Kyren Wilson

World Snooker Championship scores: Kyren Wilson beats David Gilbert 17-11 in World Championship semi-final at the Crucible

By Sporting Life

Snooker

Sun May 05, 2024 · 7M ago

Kyren Wilson left David Gilbert trailing in his wake as a devastating burst secured the Kettering man his second crack at a World Championship final.

From 9-9 in a match which had promised to go the distance, Wilson won eight of the following 10 frames to record a convincing 17-11 victory and will now Jak Jones for the title.

Wilson's winning margin perhaps flattered him in the end, Gilbert having produced each of the four centuries in the match and spent marginally more time at the table, but Wilson's ability to win the tight frames proved telling.

It was one such tight frame, when trailing 10-9, which could have changed things had Gilbert levelled as he should've, only to miss yellow and brown late on Friday as Wilson doubled his advantage.

From there he was never under serious threat and will now start his second World Championship final as favourite, having been outclassed by Ronnie O'Sullivan four years ago.

The 2020 final was played during the Covid pandemic, with limited crowds, and Wilson is relishing playing in front of a full house in Sheffield.

"I can't wait," he said. "It's what you dream of, to play in the Crucible final with a packed crowd. I'll try to soak it all in because you never know if you'll get another chance.

"It will be a fairy tale ending for whoever wins.

"Dave cued the ball very sweetly for the first two sessions. I stayed mentally strong and didn't panic. It's a long tournament and he had been through the qualifying rounds, so maybe on Friday night that caught up with him, he missed a few and I knew I had to take advantage at that stage.

"I have had some big defeats here and have tried to learn from those and become a better player. I feel I can handle any situation now.

"You can arrive at the Crucible with no form, and find it here. Before the event I had a holiday in Portugal with the family, then had two weeks' practice, so I came here fresh. Perhaps some of the top players who have had great seasons had gone stale."

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Session three recap

Kyren Wilson needs three more frames to reach a second World Snooker Championship final after opening up a 14-10 lead over David Gilbert.

The pair were tied at 8-8 after the morning session but Wilson, the only seed left, won six of the eight frames in the evening to take a commanding lead.

It would have been virtually game over had Gilbert not won the final frame with a break of 101, but he goes into Saturday’s final session as a big underdog.

The evening began with both players continuing to trade punches, Wilson knocking in a break of 85 to take the lead once more before Gilbert responded – but the match turned when Gilbert missed a simple yellow when looking good.

Wilson made him pay and from there took control, reeling off five frames in a row as further costly misses from Gilbert hurt his chances.

Wilson was making errors, too, but Gilbert was not able to make him pay through a series of scrappy frames, with the balls just not falling right for the frustrated 42-year-old.

Session two recap

It was again honours even after the second session of the World Championship semi-final between Kyren Wilson and David Gilbert, with the score now 8-8 with two sessions remaining.

Resuming tied at 4-4, Friday morning's session was very much more of the same with neither player ever more than a frame clear, despite Gilbert adding two more centuries to the one he compiled on Thursday.

Wilson again started brightly, opening up with a frame-winning break of 70, only to see Gilbert dominate a scrappy 10th frame.

Another hard-fought frame followed, this time going the way of Wilson, only for Gilbert to fire in a magnificent 129 total clearance as the scores were again level.

And that's how the remaining four frames played out, breaks of 54 and 79 doing the damage for the 2020 runner-up, while Gilbert added runs of 92 and then 106 in the last as he finished with a flourish.

Session one recap

A high-quality start to the World Snooker Championship semi-finals saw Kyren Wilson and David Gilbert end the opening session of their last-four clash locked together at 4-4.

In fact, frame two, which went the way of Gilbert, was the only frame not to feature a break of fifty-plus, but the 2019 Crucible semi-finalist warmed to the task nicely and subsequently put together runs of 104, 91 and 74.

For his part, Wilson carried on the impressive form he displayed when bossing John Higgins in the previous round and having fallen 4-3 behind, made a fine attempt at what would have been his second Crucible maximum in as many years, negotiating 11 reds and blacks in the final frame of the session before cruelly breaking down.

It was Wilson, runner-up in 2020, who was first out of the blocks, a break of 73 getting him up and running, though Gilbert hit straight back before missing a simple black when on 40 in the third frame, allowing Wilson to step in with 87 to lead 2-1.

When Gilbert responded with a typically silky century, it was all square and that was the way it stayed, the subsequent four frames traded with a flurry of fine breaks to ensure it was honours even after the first instalment of a match that promises to go down to the wire.

David Gilbert in the balls at the Crucible

World Snooker Championship: Draw and round-by-round results

ROUND ONE

Best of 19 frames (April 20-25)

(1) Luca Brecel 9-10 David Gilbert
(16) Robert Milkins 10-9 Pang Junxu
(9) Ali Carter 7-10 Stephen Maguire
(8) Shaun Murphy 10-5 Lyu Haotian
(5) Mark Selby 6-10 Joe O’Connor
(12) Kyren Wilson 10-1 Dominic Dale
(13) John Higgins 10-6 Jamie Jones
(4) Mark Allen 10-6 Robbie Williams
(3) Judd Trump 10-5 Hossein Vafaei
(14) Tom Ford 10-6 Ricky Walden
(11) Zhang Anda 4-10 Jak Jones
(6) Mark Williams 9-10 Si Jiahui
(7) Ding Junhui 9-10 Jack Lisowski
(10) Gary Wilson 5-10 Stuart Bingham
(15) Barry Hawkins 8-10 Ryan Day
(2) Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-1 Jackson Page

ROUND TWO

Best of 25 frames (April 25-29)

David Gilbert 13-4 Robert Milkins (16)
Stephen Maguire 13-9 Shaun Murphy (8)
Joe O'Connor 6-13 Kyren Wilson (12)
(13) John Higgins 13-12 Mark Allen (4)
(3) Judd Trump 13-7 Tom Ford (14)
Jak Jones 13-9 Si Jiahui
Jack Lisowski 11-13 Stuart Bingham
Ryan Day 7-13 Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)

QUARTER-FINALS

Best of 25 frames (All matches April 30-May 1)

David Gilbert 13-8 Stephen Maguire (QF 1)
(12) Kyren Wilson 13-8 John Higgins (13) (QF 2)
(3) Judd Trump 9-13 Jak Jones (QF 3)
Stuart Bingham 13-10 Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) (QF 4)

SEMI-FINALS

Best of 33 frames (May 2-4)

David Gilbert 11-17 Kyren Wilson (SF 1)
Jak Jones 17-12 Stuart Bingham (SF 2)

FINAL

Best of 35 frames (May 5-6)

Kyren Wilson v Jak Jones