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| World number 14 Luca Brecel (left) went out after losing the 79-minutes deciding frame to Gary Wilson |
Gary Wilson won the longest frame in Crucible history to beat 14th seed Luca Brecel and book his place in the second round of the World Snooker Championship for the first time.
Wilson edged home 10-9 after a decider lasting 79 minutes and 31 seconds, which eclipsed the previous record of 76 minutes and 11 seconds set in the 2016 semi-final between Mark Selby and Marco Fu.
Wilson admitted he was “half embarrassed” by the gruelling nature of the final frame, which had already endured a re-rack that was not included in the final time, and in which the majority of reds were clustered against the top cushion.
The 33-year-old former cabbie, who joked that his biggest taxi fare from Newcastle to Bradford “didn’t feel half as long”, added: “I think some of the audience will have wondered what was going on.
“It was hard-fought, there was not a lot of quality and it was absolutely draining.
“I tried my best to get over the line. It wasn’t snooker – I don’t know what it was – but it was me getting to 10 and that was the main thing.”
Brecel, himself searching for a first Crucible win at the fourth attempt, hauled back from a 9-7 deficit but gradually let a lead slip in the last and an audacious double from Wilson on the last red finally set the qualifier on course for victory.
Their clash still fell some way short of the longest frame in the sport’s history, which took over two hours between Fergal O’Brien and David Gilbert in a 2017 World Championship qualifier.
