Mark Selby edged past Mark Williams in a dramatic tussle to win Group 1 of the 2025 Champion of Champions on Wednesday.
The Leicester man, competing in front of his hometown fans at the Mattioli Arena, denied the reigning champion with a last-gasp 6-5 victory.
Selby and Williams comfortably set up their clash against one another after recording respective 4-0 triumphs over Stephen Maguire and Alfie Burden in the afternoon.
Williams, who got his hands on the trophy for the first time in 2024, made breaks of 77 and 114 to open up an early 2-0 cushion.
But Selby took advantage of a missed opportunity from his opponent to extend his advantage in the third frame, and the 42 year-old duly made it all-square at the mid-session interval with a terrific 136.
After the resumption, Selby won two close frames on the colours to move 4-2 ahead only to lose the following three as his hopes of winning the title for the first time faded.
But the four-time world champion dug deep in trademark fashion at the death, compiling breaks of 95 and 55 to pinch the 6-5 win.
“It was mad towards the end,” Mark Selby, who is through to the Champion of Champions semi-finals for only the fourth time in 13 appearances, told ITV.
“I felt like I played really good to go 4-2 up. Then I was in the balls on 30-odd I think, I played a black into the pack on 38 or 39.”
“If I land there, I probably go 5-2 and put the match to bed. But obviously Mark does what he does, he stuck in and showed his class.
“He came back and, next minute, I’m 5-4 down. My head was spinning. But I’m just happy to get through in the end.
“Towards the end, I was sort of getting in my own way again. I was overthinking some of the safeties and playing the wrong shots.
“I was frazzled, because I felt like I played some good stuff. I thought that if I lose this game, the way I felt and the way I played, it would have been heartbreaking.
“But I’m happy to get over the line. I made a decent break in the last – twitched the red in the corner screwing back for the blue – but managed the get another chance.
“It’s always nice to do well in your home city. I felt like the crowd was decent out there tonight, and it was nice that they stayed towards the end.”
Mark Selby advances to Saturday’s second semi-final where he will await the winner of the fourth and final group that is scheduled for Thursday.
In Group 4, last week’s International Championship runner-up John Higgins will be back in action as he takes on Xiao Guodong – a familiar foe in 2025 having faced the Chinese cueist four times already this year.
Two-time Champion of Champions Neil Robertson, meanwhile, plays Tom Ford – a debutant following his success at the Snooker Shoot Out.
World number one Judd Trump and reigning world champion Zhao Xintong were the first two players to seal spots in the last four.
The pair will contest the opening semi-final encounter on Friday evening.
The invitational event boasts a top prize of £150,000 with more information about this year’s Champion of Champions available here.
Featured photo credit: WST
can you please explain the crazy miss rule where a player plays a fowl shot is asked to play again quite rightly ,but a player who needs snookers does not get this advantage so the player can gain a advantage from a fowl shot which is why the miss rule applies,or am i missing something. thank you.