The World Championship may have lost its biggest draw card in Ronnie O’Sullivan, but the opening semi-final between David Gilbert and Kyren Wilson served up some top-class snooker.
Wilson and Gilbert went a long way to allaying those fears with a superb opening session, which they shared 4-4.
Gilbert had a chance to make an early statement, but he broke down and Wilson picked off a break of 73 to draw first blood.
Wilson had an outlandish fluke in the second, as he caught a safety too thin and careered into another red and sent it into the bottom right.
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‘What a fluke’ – Wilson benefits from ‘incredible’ slice of luck early in semi-final
He did not take advantage of his slice of good fortune, as a poor safety handed an opening to Gilbert who took the second to gain a foothold in the match.
Wilson hit back to take the third with a run of 87, but a poor safety when catching an attempted return to baulk too thin in the fourth was punished as Gilbert knocked in his seventh century of the tournament.
Gilbert had his scoring boots on once again in the fifth, as a run of 91 took him into the lead for the first time in the match.
Just as he had begun to look strong, Gilbert missed a makeable red and Wilson knocked in a break of 67 to level the scores at 3-3.
Gilbert worked a lead in the seventh, but the frame was in the balance until he pulled off a superb long red to the bottom left and he raced through a break of 74 to move ahead once again.
Wilson, who has a Crucible maximum to his name, raised the prospect of a second when picking off 11 reds and 11 blacks, but he ran out of position on the 12th.
He was faced with a tough cut to the left middle, and it went too high. The consolation was a break of 88 to secure a share of the spoils ahead of the second session Friday.