Snooker: Hamilton ends Selby's hopes

Anthony Hamilton ended the giantkilling exploits of teenager Mark Selby with a cool performance as he secured a surprise appearance in the final of the £450,000 (€739,000) China Open in Shanghai today.

The bearded 30-year-old from Nottingham in England equalled a career best with his 6-3 victory and now tackles Mark Williams or John Higgins in tomorrow’s best-of-17-frames final looking to capture his maiden world-ranking title.

Hamilton, 28th on the provisional world list, is already guaranteed to collect £32,500 (€53,000) - his biggest payday since turning professional in 1991 and a figure which more than doubles his prize money from the previous eight events this season.

This upturn in fortunes represents a stunning transformation for Hamilton, whose career went into freefall after he broke his wrist in the summer of 2000 trying to prevent a friend being mugged.

Hamilton also looked set for defeat in the final qualifying round, at Burton in November, when he trailed Iceland’s Kristjan Helgason 4-0.

‘‘It’s a mad game, there’s no way of making sense out of it,’’ said Hamilton.

‘‘Kristjan missed a green off its spot to whitewash me 5-0, just as I was thinking about doing something else for a living. I came back to beat him 5-4. Now, here I am in the final and everything is rosy.’’

Selby, an 18 year-old from Leicester, had already scored stunning upsets over Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan but from the moment Hamilton stole the first frame with a clinical 70 clearance it was clear he meant business.

At 2-2 the contest was still up for grabs but after the interval Hamilton, who has done nothing of note since being runner-up to Fergal O’Brien in the 1999 British Open, slipped into a higher gear.

Runs of 58 and 60 carried him 4-2 ahead and although Selby hit back by winning the seventh, Hamilton remained firm.

Selby only potted three balls in the following two frames as Hamilton, who rounded off his 5-4 quarter-final victory over Ken Doherty with a century break, again benefited from a powerful finish.

This time Hamilton put together a 114 break and is now confident of lifting the trophy.

‘‘If I can play like that again in the final I think I’ve got every chance,’’ he said.

‘‘Both Mark and John can dominate you if you don’t play well but I’m feeling pretty good myself.

‘‘The aim when I got here was just to win my first match. Getting to the final never entered my head but as the week’s gone on I’ve felt better and better.

‘‘I’m always going to be nervous going into a semi-final or final, because I don’t reach many and I’m not used to them but all the nerves went when I got out there and realised I was cueing well.’’

Selby, who had never previously progressed further than the last 32 of a world-ranking event, found it difficult to be disappointed.

‘‘I thought that, win or lose, I was going to enjoy myself and I did. I never thought I would get this far anyway and Anthony played really well. When the other guy is at the table there isn’t a lot you can do about it.’’

Semi-final result:

Anthony Hamilton (Eng) bt Mark Selby (Eng) 6-3 (Frame scores: (Hamilton 1st) 71-40 0-63 92-40 1-60 81-36 67-31 0-78 71-8 114(114)-1)