China’s Si Jiahui left reeling by stunning run from Luca Brecel as World Snooker Championship final slips away
- Chinese 20-year-old denied in Crucible semi as Luca stages one of most astonishing comebacks in snooker history
- ‘There are flaws in my game, many things I can still improve, so in the coming season I will be confident I can beat anyone,’ Si says
Luca Brecel staged one of the most astonishing comebacks in snooker history as he won 11 frames in a row against China’s Si Jiahui to reach the World Championship final.
He will now face four-time world champion Mark Selby, who also won his semi-final 17-15 following a match with Mark Allen that went into the early hours of Sunday – the day of the final itself at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The action will begin 9pm, Hong Kong time.
Selby was on the cusp of victory at 16-10 before Northern Ireland’s Allen reeled off five frames in a row.
The Englishman, however, held his nerve to reach his sixth world final.
Brecel, who won seven straight frames when coming from behind to defeat seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarterfinals, fell 14-5 behind 20-year-old qualifier Si.
But he won the final five frames of Friday’s evening session and carried on where he left off Saturday to end Si’s bid to become the youngest Crucible finalist and the first debutant world champion since Wales’ Terry Griffiths in 1979.