Kettering potter Kyren Wilson beats Gilbert to storm into world championship final

The 32-year-old, nicknamed The Warrior, produced a strong finish at the Crucible to beat David Gilbert 17-11 in his semi-final and power into the final, where he will play either Stuart Bingham or Jak Jones.

They resume their semi-final this evening, with outsider Jones leading 13-10 in the best of 33-frame encounter.

Wilson will be playing in his 14th ranking final, and looking for a sixth career title, his most recent coming at the 2022 European Masters.

The clash with Gilbert was on a knife-edge at 9-9, but Wilson, who is based at Barratts Club in Northampton, won eight of what proved to be the final 10 frames to ease into the final, making breaks of 93, 51, 88, 54 and 67 along the way.

It will be the world number 12's second world final, having lost 18-8 to Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2020.

The best of 35-frame final starts on Sunday afternoon and will end on Monday, with a £500,000 prize up for grabs for the winner.

Wilson will go into it as the big favourite, as he is the highest-ranked player left in the competition.

He has enjoyed a brilliant tournament so far, seeing off Dominic Dale 10-1, Joe O'Connor 13-6, four-times world champion John Higgins 13-8 and Gilbert 17-11.