MARK SELBY survived an epic battle with Marco Fu to reach the Haikou World Open final in China on Saturday.
World no.2 Selby led 5-1 but was unable to put the match away and Fu battled back to trail only 5-4. Fu also had chances to force a decider but Selby eventually cleared from last red to black to clinch a 6-4 victory.
The Leicester cueman has already finished runner-up in this season’s UK Championship and Masters but is looking for his first major ranking title since capturing the UK crown in December 2012.
In a largely scrappy start, he struggled for fluency, making one half century break, a 74, in building his 5-1 advantage.
Fu, who had been attempting to reach his third ranking event final of the campaign, ground his way back to 5-3 before a run of 104 reduced the deficit to a single frame.
Selby was waiting for the winner of Saturday’s other semi-final between defending World Open champion Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy.
Photographs by Monique Limbos.