World Snooker Championship 2023: Mark Selby takes tense lead over Mark Allen in error-strewn and gritty semi-final

A myriad of errors defined Mark Allen and Mark Selby’s penultimate session of their World Championship semi-final as the world No. 2 took a one-frame, 11-10, advantage at the Crucible.

Selby had won four consecutive frames to take a 7-6 lead from Allen in their earlier session.

The first frame of this session saw a bit of luck for Selby, who hit a red into the jaws of one corner pocket before it somehow ran along the side to drop into the other corner pocket.

Before the 39-year-old took the frame, there was a brief scare as he missed an easy red.

His luck continued, though, as his opponent opted to go to the same pocket for a poor safety leaving Selby to extend his lead.

The next frame saw Selby yet again miss a red, allowing Allen some time at the table. It was short-lived, though, after he poorly hit a red to the bottom left, giving Selby the chance to hit a long brown and land a well-placed red above the black. With a break of 112, he extended his lead to make it 9-6.

Allen managed to take his first frame of the session after Selby opted to attempt a difficult shot along the bottom cushion, with the red only staying in the jaws. The misstep paved the way for the world No. 3 to cut the deficit back to two.

The final frame before the break saw Selby finish with a 53, as Allen once again started poorly, giving his opponent the chance to pot his way to a 10-7 lead.

After the mid-session interval, Allen missed an easy pink into the bottom right, gifting yet another chance for Selby to pull away, but after missing a simple green, Allen was able to hit a black to take the frame, punching the air in the process.

Allen looked to build some momentum, leading the next frame early on, but he missed a final red off the black.

Selby then proceeded to one-up him by messing up a safety, sending the red into the black full ball that drifted over the bottom left. Allen eventually picked up Selby’s over-hit shot, leaving the pink in the jaws of the bottom left and taking the frame to make it 10-9.

More errors in the next frame saw the two go back and forth at the table until Selby left several reds on the table for Allen. The 37-year-old managed to pot one of them, but straight away he missed the black and folded the frame.

The last frame of the session saw Allen play some solid shots to take it with a break of 92 to reduce the deficit to just one frame.

The final session will take place at 19:00 UK time, and the winner will meet either meet Luca Brecel or Si Jiahui in the Crucible final in Sheffield.

– – –