LONDON • Judd Trump suffered a shock exit from the World Snooker Championship as the title holder crashed to a 13-9 quarter-final defeat against Kyren Wilson on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old became the latest victim of the so-called "Crucible Curse" which has seen 18 first-time winners of the world title fail to retain the crown since the event moved to the Sheffield venue in 1977.

He trailed 10-6 from Monday's opening session and fired three breaks over 50 in the first four frames on Tuesday to reduce the deficit to just two.

But eighth seed Wilson moved one frame from victory after winning the 21st frame in two visits. He seized on a missed long red by Trump to round off victory in style with a break of 104.

"I think if Kyren plays like that he will be very tough to stop. His long potting was brilliant over all three sessions and he is my pick to go on and win the title," Trump said of his fellow Englishman.

"I think it would be brilliant for the game if I can have someone of my own age group to compete against for the next 10 or 15 years."

Wilson, 28, added: "I'm striving to get there and Judd's already made it. For me to get there now I have got to beat the likes of Judd."

Meanwhile, Mark Selby admitted he had doubted whether he would ever return to the latter stages at the Crucible after completing a 12-7 win over Australia's Neil Robertson to book his place in the semi-finals for the sixth time. He suffered a crisis of confidence in the wake of his third world title win in 2017, losing his world No. 1 ranking as he won just two tournaments in the following two years.

But the 37-year-old believes the manner of his win over fellow former champion Robertson indicates he is back to somewhere approaching his best.

"Over the last 12 to 18 months I was questioning myself. I had got so used to winning tournaments then when I wasn't winning tournaments it became very damaging to my confidence," Selby said.

"I was happy with my performance against Neil. I felt if I got a chance I could score, and my safety play was back up with how it was a few years ago."

Five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan won the last four frames of the session to haul level with Mark Williams at 8-8, and maintained the upper hand to prevail 13-10 in the evening session.

His reward is a semi-final date with Selby, a repeat of the 2014 final, starting yesterday.

Scotland's Anthony McGill beat Norwegian Kurt Maflin 13-10 to set up a last-four meeting with Wilson.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE