Kyren Wilson pulled away from 9-9 to lead David Gilbert 14-10, moving within three frames of a place in the Cazoo World Championship final.
The contest could not have been closer over the first 18 frames, but Gilbert's failure to take chances to win the 20th when he trailed 10-9 proved a turning point of the third session as Wilson pushed ahead. They return to the Crucible floor at 2.30pm on Saturday and first to 17 frames will go through to battle Stuart Bingham or Jak Jones for the trophy.
World number 12 Wilson has looked in command in each of his matches so far, beating Dominic Dale 10-1, Joe O'Connor 13-6 and John Higgins 13-8. The 32-year-old's greatest ambition is to win the world title and this is becoming his best chance yet. The Kettering cueman has reached the final once before, in 2020 when he was runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Wilson took the opening frame tonight with a break of 85, then Gilbert took the next with a run of 55 for 9-9. In frame 19, Gilbert led 20-0 when he missed the black to a top corner, and Wilson took advantage with 93 to regain the lead.
If Gilbert had won frame 20, the contest would have equalled a Crucible record, for the deepest progression in a match with never more than one frame in it. That record was set in 1992 when Jimmy White and Alain Robidoux battled it out to 10-10 before White took the next two frames. This time, Gilbert looked set to win the frame from 51-0 down until he failed to pot the final yellow on 43. He later missed a chance at the brown, and Wilson punished him by clearing for 11-9.
After the interval, a break of 88 saw the Warrior extend his advantage. In frame 22, Gilbert trailed by 25 points with two reds left when he missed the brown to a baulk corner, and Wilson capitalised for 13-9. Leading 39-25 in frame 23, Wilson converted an excellent pot on a long red and added the points he needed to stretch the gap. In the last of the session, Gilbert led 30-1 when he fired in a long red, and made a tremendous 101, his tenth century of the tournament, to give himself hope of a fight-back.
