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7 hours ago
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Wu Yize took control of the world championship semi-final against Mark Allen as he reeled off the closing four frames to open up a 6-2 lead. After Thursday’s evening session had been interrupted by a power outage at the Crucible, the 22-year-old from China produced a clinical run to leave Allen watching on from his chair.
Earlier, with the Northern Irishman at the table looking to recover from going 2-0 down, the BBC’s TV and online broadcast went off air and screens above the table in the venue also showed no signal.
The World Snooker Tour posted a brief update on X: “Broadcast has been paused at the Halo World Championship due to a technical issue, we are working towards resolving this.”
After about 15 minutes the players were able to return, along with the television coverage, to finish off the final frame before the mid-session interval.
Wu, who beat former champion Mark Selby and then ended the run of qualifier Hossein Vafaei in the last eight, had earlier benefited from a double in the opening frame before going on to make a well-crafted 77.
Allen’s break in the next finished at 59 after a missed cut on the black and following a few safety exchanges, Wu capitalised to pinch the frame with another half-century. The Northern Irishman, through to the semi-finals for the second time in four years, hit back as a break of 91 secured the third frame before the unexpected interruption and then levelled the match at 2-2.
Wu, in his first Crucible semi-final, was then on for a potential maximum break in the fifth frame, but missed his attempt on the eighth black, eventually getting over the line with the colours to the pink. Further polished, exhibition-style runs of 78 and 64 enabled Wu to move 5-2 ahead.
Although Allen – who had not potted a ball for 45 minutes – fought back in the final frame of the evening, Wu again made the most of his opportunities to close it out 91-42.
In Thursday’s afternoon session, Shaun Murphy was reminded his mission of ending a 21-year wait for a second world crown will not be straightforward as he was pegged back by the four-time champion John Higgins in their semi-final.
The 2005 champion has moved through the gears since squeaking out a 10-9 first-round win over Fan Zhengyi, easing past Xiao Guodong in the second round before conquering the reigning world champion Zhao Xintong in the quarter-finals to set up a last-four showdown with Higgins and a repeat of the 2009 final.
Higgins cruised to victory on that occasion 17 years ago but Murphy made the stronger start on Thursday afternoon, taking a 3-1 lead into the mid-session interval. The Scotsman fought back, though, winning three of the final four frames of the opening session to level at 4-4.
Murphy started brightly, taking the opener 110-1 with breaks of 42 and 68. Higgins – playing his 100th match at the Crucible – had a late night on Wednesday as he fought off Neil Robertson but showed few signs of fatigue as he took advantage of Murphy’s numerous missed chances to win the second frame 65-27.
But Murphy hit back, taking a cagey third frame with a 69 break before a stunning century in the next sent him into the interval with a 3-1 lead. A lengthy safety battle developed when the action got back under way, with Higgins emerging victorious to reduce the deficit to a single frame.
The 50-year-old looked in control in the next before a missed pink left the door ajar for Murphy but the Englishman could not make the most of his opportunity and Higgins closed out a 63-41 win to square the match at 3-3. Murphy won frame seven with a smart break of 34 but could not do anything to prevent Higgins from pulling level once more as a 50 break proved enough.
