Marco Fu held his nerve to beat Barry Hawkins 13-11 to reach the World Championship semi-finals for the first time in 10 years.

The Hong Kong No 1 was 9-1 up but Hawkins, who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in the previous round, fought back to take the match to 9-10.

Then, at 12-11, he hit a superb break of 74 to clinch the match.

Afterwards, Fu, who will face Mark Selby in the last four, said: “It’s very difficult to defend a lead at the Crucible so when I was 9-1 up I knew Barry would fight back.”

“”I didn’t handle the pressure very well today until the end. I don’t know where the last frame break came from.”