Zhou Yuelong is through to the fourth ranking final of his career, where he will be seeking a breakthrough title, after defeating Mark Selby 6-3 in the last four of the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
Zhou’s first ranking final came at the 2020 European Masters, where he was whitewashed 9-0 by Neil Robertson. He then lost out against Michael Holt in the Shoot Out final and last competed in a title match three years ago at the 2022 Northern Ireland Open. On that occasion Zhou lost 9-4 at the hands of Mark Allen.
The Chinese cueman could have an opportunity for revenge tomorrow, with Allen contesting the second semi-final against Jak Jones. The title match will be played over the best of 17 frames, with a top prize of £100,000 and the Steve Davis Trophy on the line.
A disappointing campaign last season, where Zhou failed to go beyond the last 16 of any event, saw him drop to 32nd in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings. However, after teaming up with coach Steve Feeney earlier this year, he appears to be trending towards regaining his best form. Victory tomorrow would propel Zhou to 24th position in the rankings.
Defeat for 24-time ranking event winner Selby means he will have to continue his wait for a 25th title triumph. He now heads for Cheltenham for next week’s British Open, where he will be the defending champion.
The first two frames this afternoon went the way of Zhou, before he claimed a 59-minute third to lead 3-0. A tight last frame before the mid-session went to Selby, who potted a tricky cut back black from the jaws to complete a clearance of 71 to steal and make it 3-1.
When play resumed Selby had the chance to close the gap further, but left a tricky final red over the pocket and Zhou pounced to make it 4-1.
The sixth went the way of four-time World Champion Selby, but 60 in the seventh from Zhou put him one away from victory. Although Selby pulled back within two, it was to be in vain with Zhou running out a 6-3 victor.
“It is a huge confidence boost for me. I’ve gone three years without getting to a final and I played very badly last season. This season is just getting underway and it is a fantastic start. I just want to stay calm tomorrow and enjoy the game,” said 27-year-old Zhou.
“Until you shake hands you never know who will win. When you play Mark Selby you know he is very dangerous and has a strong mind and heart. You need to play with 100% focus to win.
“In this sport you need to be very strong mentally. When you are in the chair after missing a ball you need positive thoughts. This is a very big change for me this season.
“If I win tomorrow I will be very proud of myself. The first time, going from zero to one is tough. It isn’t easy, but I will give my best and hopefully I can do it.”
Mark Allen came back from the brink once more, recovering from 5-3 down to beak Jak Jones 6-5 and make the final of the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
The typically tenacious Northern Irishman has enjoyed a week of comeback victories. He rallied from 3-0 down to beat Ding 4-3 in the last 16 and 4-0 down to defeat Elliot Slessor 5-4 in the quarters.
Victory sees Allen progress to a ranking final for the 20th time in his career. The Pistol will be aiming for his 12th ranking crown tomorrow when he goes up against Zhou Yuelong, who is bidding for his first.
They will do battle over 17 frames with a top prize of £100,000 on the line, as well as the Steve Davis trophy. It is a repeat of the 2022 Northern Ireland Open final, when Allen prevailed 9-4.
This evening’s defeat for Jones means he will have to wait a little longer for his first ever ranking title. His only previous appearance in a final came at the 2024 World Championship, where he lost out to Kyren Wilson in snooker’s biggest match.
The opening stages this evening were dominated by Jones, who crafted breaks of 92, 84 and 61 on his way to leading 3-1 at the mid-session interval.
When play resumed, Allen rallied with contributions of 102 and 62 to restore parity at 3-3. Jones refused to wilt and claimed two on the bounce to move 5-3 ahead and one frame from a second ranking final.
However, it was at that moment Allen turned on the style. Consecutive runs of 68, 67 and 82 saw him take three on the bounce and earn a 6-5 triumph. For the second consecutive evening Allen left the arena with the clock beyond midnight, but generously stopped to sign autographs and take selfies with the fans who remained inside the Brentwood Centre to witness his dramatic late night victory.
Allen said: “It was a strange one because trailing 3-1 at the interval I hadn’t done much wrong. I actually joked to Chris Henry that I was in a great position at the break because I’d actually won a frame this time!
“I scored a lot better there and that was the best I’ve played all week. I will obviously need to improve in the final because Zhou has been playing some really good stuff himself.
“I felt for a long time that he was the next big thing from China after Ding, but it never really materialised. It is good to see him back because I think he is the most complete Chinese player after Ding. He’s got a good safety game and he is very measured. I’d like to see him do well, just not tomorrow!
“There’s a few events in my career I still want to win and the English Open is one of them, the Welsh Open is another and obviously the World Championship. I’d love to win tomorrow and make it three out of the four Home Nations events.”
I don’t have much to add …
I was just past 3 am this morning here in Greece when the second semi-final finished. I was fast asleep. I saw nothing from the Allen v Jones match.
The Zhou v Selby match had only finished around 8 pm “local time” for me, and had lasted for nearly five hours “elapse time” … for just 9 frames. Even taking the interval into account, that’s more than half an hour per frame on average. Every frame except the fifth had a break over 50, so it’s not like it was “ultra scrappy” either. It was a strange match actually. Despite losing the match by 6-3, Mark Selby scored more points than Zhou, 524 to 511, and with an average shot time of 28.6 seconds he was the fastest player … Zhou’s average shot time was 33.8 seconds.
I must admit that after that match, I wasn’t feeling like watching more snooker in the evening. Instead I went out with the hubby for a glass of wine … or two … at “Alisachni” the “open air” bar on the main square in my village. 😊
I’m always slightly pleased when a player proves the commentators and pundits wrong. For the whole afternoon, they were calling it for Mark Selby, even when he was 3 frames behind!
The evening match was pretty horrible stuff, although it was a tense finish. I hope Mark Allen plays more positively from the outset today: he has a best-of-17 match and he can afford to get into a scoring rhythm and try to win frames quickly, rather than just play to contain.
Zhou has played in 5 finals before, winning only the World Cup in 2015 for China B.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
I’m always slightly pleased when a player proves the commentators and pundits wrong. For the whole afternoon, they were calling it for Mark Selby, even when he was 3 frames behind!
The evening match was pretty horrible stuff, although it was a tense finish. I hope Mark Allen plays more positively from the outset today: he has a best-of-17 match and he can afford to get into a scoring rhythm and try to win frames quickly, rather than just play to contain.
Zhou has played in 5 finals before, winning only the World Cup in 2015 for China B.