Mark Selby crushes Martin Gould to reach final

Gould came into the clash having beaten Selby in their previous two encounters and he got off to the perfect start when he took the first frame.

However from that point onward Selby kicked into the sort of gear that has made him a three-time world champion.

Selby won seven frames on the bounce that included two centuries and a break of 97.

Gould fought back briefly with two frames but the result was never in doubt as Selby sealed victory.

He will now face teenager Yan Bingtao or the experienced Mark Allen in the final.

Afterwards Selby spoke of his delight with his performance and warned of how tough the final will be.

“I’m over the moon. I played very well in the first session after the opening frame. I scored well and capitalised on my opportunities. It was quite difficult coming into tonight as you know you just need to mind your own work and not do anything silly to get through. I’m just happy to get over the line and reach another final.

“To defend any tournament is very special. This one is probably one of the majors in the calendar and up there with the UK Championship. To be in the final is fantastic, but I don’t want to be stopping there. I want to defend it.

“Yan is a fantastic talent and everyone has been talking about him for a few years. He is now starting to show his potential. Mark as we all know is a fantastic player. He’s in the top 16 and always a tough player to face.”

Gould was upbeat despite defeat and spoke of how he will be targeting the Masters.

“You can’t take anything away from him, that’s why he is world number one,

“If you told me before we came here that I would be in the semi-finals I would have bitten your hand off. It stands me in good stead. We have Shanghai coming up and the UK Championship around the corner. A couple of good tournaments to come and you never know, I could get myself into the top 16 and play in my home event at the Masters in January.”