UK Championship snooker semis: Selby showdown for Robertson

Neil Robertson v Mark Selby

Australian expat Robertson has had to knock out two former UK champions en route to the semis in Scottish duo Stephen Maguire and John Higgins. The Thunder’s impressive 6-1 crushing of Glasgow’s man on-fire was followed with a very different sort of result against the Wizard of Wishaw, taking that quarter-final in a decider.

Selby, meanwhile, is seeded second and has had a much easier draw than Robertson, but the Leicester break-builder is a 6/5 match outsider, which is incredible considering how he leads the Aussie 14-6 on previous head-to-heads.

While being ranked number one in the snooker world makes little difference to Selby here, it’s the fact that when the last clashed with Robertson on the green baize in a major semi-final – at the Crucible in 2014 no less – the Jester triumphed.

These rivals have met at the UK Championship before, most notably in the 2013 final. Robertson ran out a 10-7 winner in 2013, so is odds-on 4/6 match favourite to repeat that victory. It’s not the best of 33 or even 19 frames here, however, but 11.

It’s about who is first to six, then, and Selby did in both of those big matches, so that makes him a 7/1 shot on a 6-5 scoreline that books his spot in the final and effectively puts one hand on the trophy for a second UK success. There’s also a 3/1 price on this match going to a decider.

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Coral’s top tip: Selby snatching his semi with Robertson 6-5 is a superb 7/1 shout.