Martin Gould managed to overcome a late charge from Allister Carter in the quarter-finals of the International Championship to set up a last-four clash against world number one Mark Selby. The pair shared the first six frames before Gould snatched the next two frames to move 5-3 ahead, just one away from victory, but his fellow Englishman responded in impressive fashion. Carter, who won silver at the 2017 World Games, reeled off frames nine and 10 to level the scores and set up a nail-biting decider between the duo at the Baihu Media Broadcasting Centre.
It was 36-year-old Gould who held his nerve, making a break of 81, to claim a 6-5 victory and book his place in a first semi-final since the 2017 German Masters back in February. The world number 22 will now take on three-time world champion Selby after the latter produced a brilliant performance to defeat Robbie Williams 6-2. Leicester’s star made five breaks over 50 – the highest being 93 in the final frame – and he will aiming to upset the record books when taking on Gould in the next round. Selby, who is 3/1 to defend his world title next year, has lost the last three matches against his compatriot and has only won three of the 12 meetings between the pair.
Elsewhere, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s conqueror Yan Bingtao claimed another huge scalp after knocking out four-time world champion John Higgins 6-2 in the quarter-finals. The Chinese star produced a stunning display, that included a highest break of 123 in frame five, to send his Scottish opponent packing and the semi-finalist is 50/1 to win the 2018 World Championship. Bingtao will now take on Mark Allen in the last four after the Northern Irishman managed to record a 6-5 victory over Judd Trump in a close encounter.
Snooker odds available at Dafabet.