Luca Brecel won the battle of the last two World Champions, beating Kyren Wilson 4-3 in an exciting finish to reach the semi-finals of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
Mark Allen is also into the last four, scoring a 4-2 success over Mark Selby despite letting nerves get the better of him when he had sight of the $1 million bonus available for a 167 'super maximum.'
Current Crucible king Wilson has had an excellent first half of the season, winning the Xi'an Grand Prix and BetVictor Northern Ireland Open, but finishes 2024 on a low note with an early exit in Saudi Arabia. Brecel, runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in this event last season, continues his return to form having reached his first quarter-final of the season at last week's BetVictor Scottish Open. The Belgian has now gone one step further and will face Mark Williams or Judd Trump in the semis in Riyadh on Friday.
Wilson started strongly by taking a 2-0 lead, then Brecel hit back to take three frames in a row with a top break of 83. Frame six went to Wilson, then in the decider Brecel led 42-1 when he failed on a red to top corner. That gave world number two Wilson a chance to steal, but he took just one red before missing the black off its spot. This time Brecel made no mistake.
"It was a good game overall, we both played some good stuff. At the end it was really tense," said Brecel. "I thought he would clear up. When I came back to the table I just tried to stay composed. This is exactly what I need, to win these games against top players like Kyren. I have always been someone who can play well under pressure. Last time here I got to the final, I was really focused. This time it's the same, from the start I have been really up for it. Maybe if I was like that in every event it would be better for my career. But it's difficult to be that motivated all the time."
Allen scored an impressive win over Selby and has now reached the semi-finals of four of his last five events. The Northern Irishman will meet Ronnie O'Sullivan or Ding Junhui on Friday for a place in the final.
Selby opened with a break of 88 then Allen levelled at 1-1. In frame three he was on target for a possible 167, but after potting nine reds and eight blacks, he missed a routine black on 65. Selby stepped in with a 68 clearance to regain the lead, but his opponent dominated the last three frames with top runs of 76 and 75.
"I felt so nervous, going for the 167," said world number four Allen. "I fluked the black on 57 and brought a red off the cushion and I wondered if it was meant to be, they were all there. But I got too excited and took my eye off the next black. I would love to have potted a few more just to see if I could have handled the pressure later. It's a massive prize so you can't help thinking about it even when you pot the first red. Mark made a good clearance to put me under pressure. But from 2-1 I didn't give him much of a look and finished the match off well. My form is coming together."