Gary Wilson celebrates ‘unbelievable’ comeback win over Zhou Yuelong at Scottish Open
![Gary Wilson](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.planetsport.com%2Fimage-library%2Fland%2F700%2F498391_gary-wilson-apr23.webp&w=3840&q=75)
Gary Wilson kept his Scottish Open title defence alive in remarkable fashion with a dramatic 6-5 victory over Zhou Yuelong in their semi-final.
Zhou made a break of 69 in the decider and punched the air in celebration after potting the green to lead by 31 points with just 22 remaining.
However, Wilson gained the two snookers he required – one on the brown and another on the blue – to force a respotted black which he eventually potted in the middle following a lengthy safety exchange.
“It happens once in a blue moon,” Wilson told Eurosport.
“The amount of times you play matches like that where you think you’ve lost… you’re always trying, always hoping, but you kind of know deep down you’ve lost, and every now and again something silly happens and I’ve managed to do something.
“Just absolutely over the moon to finally get something going my way like that.
“I felt like I was struggling to get any kind of run, I was struggling to get on a ball and make anything easy. I thought ‘surely something’s got to turn a little bit here’ and I felt at points towards the end it was starting to.
“To somehow win is unbelievable. Every now and again something miraculous happens so you’ve got to keep digging in and battling.”
Breaks of 106, 56 and 77 had helped give Zhou a 5-3 lead, but Wilson responded with breaks of 122 and 54 to get back on level terms and force what proved to be a dramatic decider.
Wilson will face Noppon Saengkham in Sunday’s final after the Thai player reeled off five frames in a row to beat home favourite John Higgins 6-3.
Higgins made breaks of 130 and 92 to lead 3-1 and looked set to extend his advantage before missing a pink to the middle on a break of 53.
Saengkham produced a superb clearance to reduce his deficit and then added breaks of 133, 120 and 83 to reach his first ranking final.
“I’m very happy and so proud of myself because I work really hard all the time,” Saengkham told Eurosport.
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