Kyren Wilson opens up on enthralling clash with Anthony McGill

16.10.01

Kyren Wilson collapsed over the line after one of the craziest deciding frames in Crucible history to secure his place in his first World Championship final.

Wilson beat Anthony McGill 103-83 in a 61-minute epic which effectively concluded when the Kettering 28-year-old fluked the green off three cushions to triumph 17-16.

Wilson struggled to contain his emotions at the end of what he described as a "mental" match, and added: "I can't believe it ended like that – I didn't want to send someone home on a fluke."

Shell-shocked McGill, who had forced his way back into the match after trailing 13-11 overnight, had missed the first chance to win it when a bad split on the reds saw him run aground on 39.

McGill, who had already battled through two final frame deciders in the tournament, paid rich tribute to Wilson but added: "I feel like I've had something stolen from me – not by Kyren, but by the snooker gods."

After McGill missed his own opportunity in the decider, Wilson also came up short when he missed a straight red to the middle to bring a break of 47 to an end.

But with the black teetering over the top pocket, Wilson proceeded to snooker McGill on a nearby red and the Scot missed it eight times in a row – costing him 35 points, and resulting in him requiring snookers.

Yet remarkably Wilson duly stepped up to play the next shot and proceeded to screw the white back into the middle pocket, restoring McGill's ability to win frame and match outright.

The elusive red then became perched tight on the top lip of the middle pocket, with both players trying and failing to pot it via the bottom cushion.

McGill managed it at his second attempt but with the colours seemingly at his mercy he snookered himself on the green – which Wilson also subsequently missed to effectively take the match.

After an extended safety battle, Wilson fluked the green and appeared to struggle to contain himself, before regrouping to resist McGill's final attempt to summon one last twist.

Wilson added: "I played a great snooker that I thought had won me the match and if it had finished there it would be a different story, but I went in off the red.

"I couldn't believe what was happening. It was absolutely mental. It was one of the best semi-finals you'll ever see but I wish it hadn't ended the way it did."

Wilson now faces the difficult task of composing himself for his final debut on Saturday but insisted he will be doing everything he can to resist a repeat performance.

He added: "You can't just rely on luck to get you a world crown and whoever I play in the final I've got to produce great snooker and I'm not going to get there by fluking balls.

"I can go out and enjoy the occasion and give it my all. I'm going in there to win the world title to but have the pressure on the other guy hopefully plays in my favour."

There had been few hints of the drama to come when Wilson returned at the start of the session to stretch his lead to 14-11 with a break of 94.

But qualifier McGill stormed back with consecutive breaks of 84, 87 and 122 to achieve parity at the mid-session interval.

Wilson nudged back in front with a break of 82 but McGill appeared unfazed and pulled back level before a nerveless 98 sent him one frame from victory.

Wilson forced the decider after a re-rack, but neither player could possibly have envisaged the drama that was about to unfold.