Swail Misses Crucible
Kyren Wilson scored a win for youth over experience as the 19-year-old beat two-time Crucible semi-finalist Joe Swail by ten-frames-to-six in this year’s Betfred.com world championship at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
Wilson signalled his intent from the word go, making a break of 95 on the opening frame.
Swail responded with a 69 to level in the next but Wilson added runs of 59 and 72 to lead at the mid-way stage of the first session.
He stretched his lead further by winning a scrappy 33-minute fifth frame.
The Northern Irishman rallied by taking the next three frames to restore parity at 4-4, but it was Northampton’s Wilson who led at half time by taking the ninth.
When play restarted in the evening session, both players looked edgy, but it was Wilson again who came out on top of the half-hour tussle to move two ahead at 6-4.
41-year-old Swail showed his class in the next with a superb 124 break and move within one frame once again.
Thanks mainly to a break of 43, Wilson took frame twelve before Swail again closed the gap at 7-6.
Frame 14 went Wilson’s way with a break 56 and twenty minutes later it was 9-6.
Swail, needing to win the last four frames had the first scoring chance in the next. He could only manage eight on his first visit but created a second adding just 12 more. When Wilson smoothly negotiated his way to a break of 64, the match appeared to be all over.
But, in true Swail style, he forced his opponent into three foul strokes and took the last red with the black, followed by the yellow to pink, leaving the black to extend the match into frame 17.
He failed to sink it and in the end, it was a relieved Wilson who potted it to claim the win and set up a tie with Rory McLeod with The Crucible Theatre beckoning.
Elsewhere, China's Liu Song continued his resurgence with a tight 10-9 win over Telford's Adrian Gunnell in a 7-hour plus battle.
Gunnell held a one-frame advantage after the first session but Song came out in the night and won the opening five frames to move within one frame of victory which he sealed twenty minutes later.
There were also wins for James Wattana who thrashed Andy Hicks (10-2), Joe Jogia against Joe Delaney (10-4) and James McBain over Ian McCulloch (10-5).
