Ebdon crashed out, beaten by Hunter.
HUNTER ENDS EBDON'S REIGN
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The king is dead, long live the king - and Paul Hunter is ready to pick up the
crown after his victory over Peter Ebdon in Sheffield on Wednesday night.
Hunter is through to his first ever Embassy World Championship semi-final
after a thrilling 13-12 win over the defending champion.
The 24-year-old now plays 1997 champion Ken Doherty while another first time
semi-finalist Stephen Lee faces Mark Williams, the 2000 title holder.
And Hunter is ready to get his hands on the trophy now Ebdon has released his
grip.
"I can go on and win the tournament," said the world number nine from Leeds
after ensuring the curse of the Crucible struck again.
"I have not come this far to lose in the semi-finals," said the confident
Yorkshireman.
"But no matter what the scoreline is going to be, I'm going out there to
enjoy it
"I will probably have a lot of support and hopefully the crowd will get
behind me," added Hunter, who kicks off the penultimate round against Doherty
this afternoon.
Hunter expects a similar game against Irishman Doherty to the one he had
against Ebdon.
"My safety will need to be a lot tighter because Ken likes to mess the balls
up," he added.
"However, I've played him a few times and I know what to expect."
In fact, the duo have played on eight occasions, including three times this
season.
Hunter has won two of those - most recently at the European Open in Torquay
back in March. However, Doherty won the longer-distance game - 9-4 in the UK
Championship at York last December.
Bookmakers have Hunter slight favourite at 11-8 ON while Doherty is even money
to make his third world final and his first since 1998.
Ebdon has no further interest in the competition after failing to become the
only first time Crucible champion to retain the trophy.
However, Hunter revealed he wished him well for the remainder of the event.
"He just said 'best of luck' and I hope you win," said the Yorkshireman.
Naturally devastated at missing the chance to make world championship history,
Ebdon said: "I really thought I could do it again this year.
"I tried for my life out there. I wasn't playing my best but I was fighting,
and fighting is what I do best.
"Things didn't go my way but all credit to Paul. He's a fantastic player and
a nice lad.
"I'm bitterly disappointed but I tried my best. You can't do any more than
that.
"If I had got into the semi-finals and the one-table set-up, who knows what
might have happened.
"At 12-10 down I probably played my best snooker of the match and I really
believed I could do it."
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