Defending champion Mark Selby secured his place in the semi-finals of the Masters at Wembley yesterday with a nailbiting 6-5 victory over Antrim’s Mark Allen.

The Englishman recovered from a shaky spell early on and fought back when Allen was within one frame of victory, but was not without his share of luck in the deciding frame as he fluked a red while escaping a snooker.

Selby then missed a straightforward red to hand the advantage back to Allen, but the Northern Irishman also fell victim to nerves, missing a red in a corner pocket.

Selby capitalised, sealing victory with a break of 33 to set up a last-four clash with either John Higgins or China's Ding Junhui.

"I had to hold myself together and I've proved to myself again that under pressure I'm a good player," said Selby, who went 2-0 up before losing four consecutive frames.

"I'm not putting a lot of pressure on myself but just going out there to enjoy it.

"There are so many great players out there that I'm just coming here to enjoy it and to still be in it at this stage is great."

The 25-year-old was 5-4 behind and in danger of crashing out, but coolly forced the decider with a break of 101.

Asked about the fluke, Selby said: "I couldn't believe it happened. I said to Mark 'I can't believe you left me that'. There was great banter out there."

Meanwhile, Stephen Hendry insists darts would be the wrong model for snooker to copy if the sport's governing body heed calls for a makeover.

Hendry was responding to claims from Ronnie O'Sullivan that snooker is "dying".

Hendry said: "Talk that the game is dying is complete nonsense. People talk about darts being on the crest of a wave. But if that's what we've got to do, let people in drinking and shouting then it's a sad state. I think snooker is a classy sport, and to go that route would be a backward step."