On April 29, Beijing time, the 2021 World Snooker Championships ended the quarter-final competition at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, and the last runner-up Karen Wilson defeated Neil Robertson 13-8 to advance to the final four after falling behind 2-5 in the early stage.
Wilson
Wilson eliminated defending champion Judd Trump in the quarterfinals last year, and this year he eliminated another champion, Robertson, at this stage to reach the single-table stage again. This is his third time in the semi-finals of the World Championships and he has appeared in the quarter-finals of the World Championships for six consecutive years. He lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final last year and won the title this year if he wants to go further.
The 29-year-old Wilson was well-rounded, and with trailing in the first stage, he overpowered his opponents in the second and third stages to seal the victory, with the final four taking on Sean Murphy, who eliminated another title-winning favourite, Judd Trump.
Australian Robertson has won both the British Championship and the Tour Championship this season, and this time he has not been able to continue to play his best on the biggest stage. The 2010 winner has not been able to reach the semi-finals since 2014.
Robertson
The two sides fought 8-8 after two stages, Wilson opened the third stage with a single shot of 133 points, Robertson had a chance to tie but only scored 23 points, Wilson scored a 59 points to laugh at the opportunity, and brushed another 62 points to extend the score to 11-8. The ensuing piecemeal set was won by Wilson, who took the match point to go to the halftime 12-8, and came back with a single 84 points, and won five consecutive victories in the third stage.
Wilson said: "I am very happy to cross the finish line first, I focus on the advantages and avoid the disadvantages, focus on practical needs, and have a positive mentality to keep winning the championship. The first shot in the third stage made me very motivated, and if I let Neil get up he would definitely be able to pull away, so I had to stop him and make him hesitate to think about it. Sometimes he gets into a bottleneck and if he can score smoothly he's probably the best in the world, so I have to counteract his momentum. ”
"I'm not going to give him the table, I have to let him find a way to fight for opportunities, let him work hard to win." Neil started the game too strongly, scored high, and I fell behind 3-5 in the first stage and 8-8 in the second stage to give myself a lot of chances. ”
"Last year Judd wanted to win the title and I tried my best to win him, and this year it was Neil who was determined to win the title and I eliminated him again. I believe in my own ability, mainly in the state I can win over anyone. I'm not just doing this to make money, the top eight is enough to make money, but even if I fall in the top four, I will be unhappy and feel that the performance is not good enough. I hope to continue to work hard and believe that I can win the championship. ”
Robertson, who lost, said: "I couldn't play the best performances of the previous weeks, this season has been great, unfortunately I didn't reach the single table stage at the World Championships. I feel like I lost in the second stage, not every stage can play smoothly, some players just make it difficult for you to play. ”
"Karen did a very good job, I wasn't good enough to keep the suspense. I wasn't sharp enough to win the round cleanly and get kicked out at my own pace. ”