Comeback King has the last laugh
Mark Selby dug deep into his reserves to book his place in the 2010 Betfred.com World Championship semi final.
Selby started on the road to recovery, against Ronnie O'Sullivan, in the middle session, coming back from 9-5 down to trail 9-7 ahead of the final session.
The 'Jester' got off to a good start taking the first of the night with a run of 40.
O'Sulllivan immediately regained his two frame cushion with a run of 45.
Selby won frame nineteen, despite him missing an easy red to the centre on 49. He added another run of 40 to secure the frame.
Again O'Sullivan stretched ahead, this time with a faultless 75 break after Selby missed the black on 25.
And then came the turnaround.
Selby ran in 108 to close the gap. And he won an error strewn frame, helped by efforts of 30 and 38, to level the match.
As O'Sullivan game faltered, Selby grew stronger. O'Sullivan countered 22 by Selby with 39 but gave Selby the chance to take the lead for the first time since the seventh frame, with a closing 46.
Again O'Sullivan had the first chance but he missed a red on 36, and after misses from either player, Selby got a crucial 44 break, and sealed victory on the brown in the twenty-fourth frame.
Selby gave a fist pump of delight, as he booked his second semi-final appearance in as many years.
Selby asserted that his fighting spirit got him through the match saying "For the majority of the match I don't think I scored well enough. I had to resort to plan B. I never give in. It's not always about big breaks.
"I struggled myself in the first session. I'd take 4-4 irrelevant of who you play. It's not a bad start to a best of 25 frame match.
"At 9-5 down I still felt as though I had every chance. Until your opponent gets to thirteen, it's never over.
"I try my hardest, take one frame at a time and you can turn any match round.
"Ronnie played well this afternoon, he probably deserved to be in front going in tonight. But to win those last two frames this afternoon was massive for me.
"There's the nerves in any match, in the first round against Ken I was nervous. It's just what it is. It's the Crucible. It's all I wanted to do as a kid, to play here and win the World Championship. That's an added pressure for me. But I managed to hold myself together.
"Looking ahead to his semi final against Graeme Dott on Thursday Selby added The semi final will be the same as every match. I go in there, give it my all, take it one ball, one frame at a time. I'm confifdent although Graeme has been there and done it before.
"Graeme's turned his form round. He had problems off the table and if you're not happy off the table you won't perform on it.
"The one table set up is very special. I've only experienced it once. I'll go out there and relish it tomorrow and hopefully get through and into the final.
"Being touted as favourite is just everyone's opinion. You could ask 100 people and they'd put me favourite and another 100 would say I wasn't. It's not added pressure.
O'Sullivan, who was downbeat, even after his win over Mark Williams, was brutally honest after the match about his form, both this year and in previous season.
"I can't keep coming in here moaning to you lot [The Media] and trying to get you to understand what's going on in my little world, so probably the less said the better.
"I haven't felt confident and comfortable even winning for last seventeen or eighteen years and that's just how it is. I'm not going to keep going on about it. It was another one of those games.
"I've felt like that for a long long time to be honest with you. Even the world titles I won I felt in absolute relief when it was over.
"I never felt in control of my game and myself. It can be a painful experience. I've stuck at it longer than I thought I would.
"There are some positives in there because I know I've tried my hardest.
"Like I said at start of season I decided I wasn't going to try and fight it and I didn't until the Masters, then the competivie side of me wants to win, to perform and for it to hurt when I lose.
"I don't even play well in practice so it's not the pressure or competition. I play better in matches than in practices. That's how bad it is. I wasn't like that up into I was 16-17. I've had to struggle with it.
"Because of my ability, I know my bad game has got me as far as it has. The positives I've got to take is I know I have been a great player. I know I am a great player but it's just a shame that I haven't been able to perform as I know I could.
"The positive is I've stayed at it longer than I expected to be able to and I just take matches like that on the chin now.
"I don't really need snooker to be honest, but I love the game I really really do. It's nothing to do with the game.
"I'll always be involved in snooker because it's in my blood. I don't need it really but it's like a drug. I know I'd miss it and I know I'd always think what if.
"I've have seventeen years of trying and hoping my game would turn around. I've given it my best I can't give it any more than that.
"But you'll see me next season. No doubt."
