World Snooker Championship 2023 results: Mark Selby sets up Mark Allen last-four meeting with win over John Higgins

Mark Selby won the last of his four world titles in 2021

Mark Selby set up a World Championship semi-final with Mark Allen after comfortably advancing past fellow four-time champion John Higgins 13-7.

Having resumed 9-5 ahead, world number two Selby took three of the first four frames with breaks of 64, 67 and 91.

Higgins made a superb break of 102 but Selby hit a 67 as he sealed victory.

Earlier on Wednesday, Allen claimed a hard-fought 13-10 victory over Jak Jones to reach the last four for the first time since 2009.

Allen's meeting with Selby, who will be featuring in his eighth Crucible semi-final, is an intriguing proposition between two of the form players of the season.

On paper at least, they are separated by very little.

The Northern Irishman's three major ranking titles this season have moved him up to third in the world rankings, while Selby, the current number two, won the English Open in December and World Snooker Tour Classic in March.

They have each won 11 of their 22 previous meetings, although the manner of Selby's success over Higgins suggests he is peaking at just the right time.

While the Scot began the match brightly to earn 3-0 and 4-1 leads, Selby won nine of the next 10 frames with Higgins scoring just a solitary point across four of those.

"I thought I played faultless really from the start," Selby told BBC Sport.

"To get the first frame on the board was key. You can't give someone of John's class a four-frame lead. Then at 4-1 I had an outrageous fluke in the middle and if it goes 5-1 it is a completely different game.

"When I feel like I have had to do it [answer questions], I have done it which has been pleasing because that has been missing for a little while and only gives me confidence."

The 22-time ranking winner's superb safety play also told as he dominated Wednesday afternoon's session, which had to be cut to six frames due to the grinding nature of the contest.

Indeed, in about same the time it took Selby to win a tactical exchange on the final red in the 11th frame, Luca Brecel and Ronnie O'Sullivan completed two frames on the opposite table.

"I played a terrible first frame today when it should have definitely gone 5-4 in front and from then on it was all downhill for me and Mark got stronger and he totally took me apart," Higgins said.

"His safety was incredible and I was in bad positions all day. He is an incredible animal on a snooker table, he just doesn't let you breathe. He is a master at the game of snooker."

Allen's winning experience counts

Mark Allen has reached only his second semi-final at the Crucible

Jones had been aiming to become the first Crucible debutant to reach the single-table set-up since Andy Hicks in 1995 and the first player to win a world title on his bow at the tournament since fellow Welshman Terry Griffiths in 1979.

While the 29-year-old produced a gritty display in what has been a breakthrough tournament for him after impressive victories over Ali Carter and Neil Robertson, it proved a step too far for him against Allen, despite crafting six half-centuries and one ton over the course of the match.

Having shared the opening two sessions 4-4 and 8-8, Jones, who will move up from 52nd in the world rankings to 36th simply ran out of steam as the winning line approached.

Allen, the world number three, played with the assurance that winning the UK Championship, Northern Ireland Open and World Grand Prix has provided in his best-ever campaign and rarely looked ruffled in a match that was nip and tuck until the finale.

"It wasn't pretty at times but who cares? I got the 13 frames and that was the target at the start. It was a complete slog and it was just a matter of digging deep," said Allen, who made three half centuries in the concluding session.

"As the match went on I felt like he weakened a little. He started unbelievably well but missed a few late on that he wouldn't normally have and I just picked up the pieces.

"I have won that with my B and C games. It was a three or four out of 10 performance but mentally it was a 12 out of 10."

Instead of a fluent-free-scoring performance, Allen, whose only century, a wonderful 137, arrived in the third frame, relied upon some excellent match-play to see him through, none more so than when he sealed his win in a protracted 23rd frame that lasted more than an hour.

Analysis - 'Allen was put through the wringer'

John Parrott, the 1991 world champion, speaking on BBC Two

Mark Allen was put through the wringer, that was a really hard match. Jak Jones comes out with tremendous credit. He was ranked 52 coming into this. He will not see the 50s in the rankings again. He is a proper player who will hopefully go on and win tournaments.

That was a massive result for Mark and you can see what it means to him.

Shaun Murphy, the 2005 world champion, speaking on BBC Two

I think Jak just ran out of steam. He's played something like 112 or 113 frames in this run and Mark has probably played half that number. Mark won't have underestimated Jak at all. It was a big match for him having not reached the semi-finals for so many years.

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