World Snooker Championship: Mark Selby beats Kyren Wilson to reach semis

World number one Mark Selby held off a spirited challenge by qualifier Kyren Wilson to clinch a 13-8 win and reach the World Championship semi-finals.

Selby, the 2014 champion, led 10-6 overnight and after Wednesday's opening four frames were shared, he clinched victory with a break of 64.

Wilson hit a tournament-high break of 143 to get back to 12-8, showing why he is one of the sport's rising stars.

Selby will play Hong Kong's Marco Fu in the last four.

Leicester's Selby started the final session in fluent form, knocking in breaks of 92 and 78 to move to within a frame of victory at 12-6.

Wilson, the world number 19 who beat top-10 seeds Joe Perry and Mark Allen to reach the last eight for the first time, did at least have the consolation of beating Barry Hawkins' break of 141 before Selby closed out the match.

"It was a nice break," said Wilson. "At 12-6 down I am out of the match and it was a nice consolation prize so hopefully it will stand."

Selby peaking at right time?

The former world champion has failed to win a ranking event this season, with his only tournament success coming at the European Tour event in Poland in March.

Selby admitted he was fortunate to start the final session with such a healthy lead, but was happy with his overall performance.

"For the majority of the match I played well," he said. "But in the second session yesterday I was very poor and to get out of it at 4-4 was a miracle.

"To battle like I did was probably the difference between me winning and losing the match.

"He was the better player by a long way and if he had won it 6-2 or 7-1, it wouldn't have been a surprise.

"I need to get some rest, keep fresh and carry on playing like I did in the first and last session. If I am switched on then I don't really mind who I play in the next round."

Wilson certain of Crucible success

The 24-year-old Wilson is convinced he will be successful at snooker's showpiece event at some point.

"Without a doubt I will win this event in the future," said the reigning Shanghai Masters champion. "I completely believe in myself and this hasn't dampened my confidence.

"I will have a bit of a rest and will be back working very, very hard to make sure next season is even better than this one.

"Inevitably the 6-0 lead he had finished me off. I let him in too early. I didn't put him under pressure soon enough and he is too good a player to let him get on top of you."