Gary Wilson, the man nicknamed the Tyneside Terror, claimed a place in the final of the BetVictor Scottish Masters with a stunning post-break performance before a packed house at Meadowbank, a spell in which he banged in three century breaks in four frames.
Wilson (pictured) and his opponent, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, traded blows to be level at 2-2 after four nervy frames which were punctuated by safety play.
But the players, who are practice partners, Wilson from near Newcastle and Un-Nooh, who is based in Doncaster, turned up the heat in a pulsating, post-break session in a match which lasted three, entertaining hours.
Wilson, in particular, appeared to have found his potting rhythm, rattling in breaks of 122, 130 and 115 to win 6-4, but his opponent will be haunted by a miss when in control early in the tenth frame.
Wilson, who beat pre-tournament favourite, Ronnie O’Sullivan in one of the earlier rounds, was asked where the triple ton came from and he asked: “You tell me. I did not have anything at the break, just smacked a few ball around and decided to forget what happened in the first four and played on instinct and tried to enjoy myself. It worked for a few frames, I’m really pleased.”
Earlier, a break of 50 helped the 37-year-old Thai player win frame one after a spell of safety play and misses, but the man from Tyne and Wear bounced back in the second with breaks of 34 and 45 to level at 1-1.
It was safety first for both players in the third as neither wanted to give anything away, but Wilson toughed it out to take it 68-42 after a final break of 35.
It was in frame four that Un-Nooh came alive. A long red into the bottom right pocket started his superb break, the cue ball returning to brake up the pack.
He moved swiftly onto 41 with a superb cut red into the middle bag and running the cue ball through into position on the black.
His cue ball control continued and the man nicknamed The Seed King totalled 72 with six reds left. On he went with the crowd enthralled.
Un-Nooh, the winner of one ranking event and currently ranked No 57 in the world, cruised to 96, potting a red for 97 and then black to move into three figures at 104. At 112 the break floundered with a red left on the cushion, but the 7min 16sec break brought the overall score to 2-2 and was warmly received by the packed crowd.
The Thai player’s joy was short-lived as Wallsend-based Wilson, who has been runner-up twice on the circuit, commanded the next frame, compiling a solid break of 88 before missing a black to the bottom bag, but he was ahead 3-2 in the best of 11 frame match.
Another bout of safety play ensured in the sixth, but, with the scoreline stuck on 61-29 in favour of Un-Nooh, the Thai eventually got amoung the balls with four reds remaining.
The break floundered with the scoreline at 89-19 when the man nicknamed The Speed King, missed a red into the bottom pocket. Wilson had seen enough despite the colours being available but spread out around the table.
The tense game was then level at 3-3 and Un-Nooh claimed six points at the start of frame seven before Wilson came to the table and he was first to break away.
A cute cut on a red back to the spotted blue got him rolling and a green into the yellow pocket, brining the cue ball back into the pack, was particularly impressive.
He reached 50 with a red into the bottom left and drove on, maneuvering the cue ball expertly around the remaining reds. The 37-year-old was on-song and played at pace. Two reds left and is break became 78.
Wilson kept his foot on the gas and moved to 95 with all the colours on their sports. A delicate cut on the yellow, a routine shot on the green into the yellow bag brought up his 100. The brown disappeared followed by the blue, pink and black for a frame-winning 122 break. Now it was 4-3 to the Englishman.
A tricky black took Wilson to 44 in the next, a break set up by a cut back on the pink into the middle bag. He stalked the table looking to continue the break and to heap the pressure on his opponent.
And he kept the heat on with a red taking him to 65 with 59 left on the table. Wilson was on fire and the fans loved it as he moved into three figures with the colours all on their spots.
The Wallsend man polished off the colours in double-quick time to move 5-3 ahead and looking set for a place in the final. Un-Nooh could only sit and watch as he title hopes slipped away.
He was staring defeat in the face as the X-year-old kept us his assault. Wilson seemed to have his rhythm back. Un-Nooh gave him and inch and he took a mile with consistently impressive potting to accumulate a potentially match-winning 64 break.
Wilson missed a red and back came the Thai with potentially 67 points left on the table and he claimed a pressure break of 68 to pull a frame back and stay alive at 5-4.
But a catastrophic miss on a red while using a rest to keep his cue above the pack eventually proved his downfall, Wilson stepped in an rattled off a 115 break for victory and a place in the final against either Aussie Neil Robertson or English cueman Joe O’Connor on Sunday (1pm).
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