Mark Selby edges out Neil Robertson in thrilling battle to reach final of English Open 2022

Mark Selby edged a high-quality game, beating Neil Robertson 6-4 in a thrilling battle to clinch his place in the final of the English Open.

The signs were ominous for Selby as he trailed 3-1, but he fought back superbly, taking five of the next six frames whilst playing some of his finest snooker.

It ends a run of seven straight defeats for Selby against the Australian, and he celebrated with a fist pump and can now look forward to his first ranking final since 2021. He will meet the winner of Mark Allen and Luca Brecel.

In a brilliant spectacle, Selby made breaks of 54, 51, 136, 104 and 85; Robertson with 56, 78, 78, 141 and 66.

Things got off to a disappointing start for Selby as Robertson quickly racked up a 50-0 advantage with some delightful shots.

However, a brilliant long red from Selby offered him a chance to launch a counter-attack and he took it, producing a break of 54 to steal the first frame and take an early lead.

But the Australian gave a blistering response with a break of 78 to level things up quickly.

The former world champion’s impressive form continued as he potted a red off another red in frame three and he was relentless in racking up another 78 to take the lead.

Things got even better before the mid-session interval for Robertson, as he pounced on a Selby error to produce a total clearance of 141 and take a 3-1 lead into the break.

The break did the Englishman well, however, as he responded quickly. A rare miss from Robertson on a mid-range red gave Selby a chance, and once he went 61 clear with 59 left on the table, the Australian conceded the frame.

The sense that Robertson had gone off the boil a bit since the interval continued in the following frame as he made some uncharacteristic errors, as Selby levelled the match at 3-3.

The momentum had firmly swung in favour of Selby as he picked out a brilliant long red following a poor break-off from Robertson. Selby made his fifth century of the tournament – making a total clearance of 136 – as he secured a third straight frame.

Any notion that Robertson would surrender the fight was quickly banished in the eighth frame, though, as the Australian roared back, sparked by potting an incredible long red. And although he was unable to put the frame to bed on the first visit, he levelled once more with a series of excellent shots.

A fluke on a red from Robertson at the start of the ninth frame looked like it could cost Selby, but the balls were tricky, and the Australian eventually had to play safe. Full of confidence, Selby put away a long red and proceeded to construct an almighty break of 104 to move to within a frame of victory.

Selby dared to be brave in what proved to be the final frame as he dispatched another excellent long red, opening up the table. A final break of 85 was enough for a jubilant Selby who looks in fine fettle to land a much-needed trophy on Sunday.

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