Click below to read about the afternoon session today in Shanghai as the quarter-final stage reached its conclusion:
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-3 Mark Williams
In what was a match of exceptional quality, world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan defeated Welshman Mark Williams 5-3 to reach the semi-finals tomorrow.
O’Sullivan, who has had not looked particularly good in his first two matches started this one looking much sharper, racing into a 2-0 lead after just 16 minutes of play. Williams who was not playing badly himself pegged one back but a century from O’Sullivan put him 3-1 up at the interval.
He should have made this 4-1 but when it looked a formality he missed a sitter of a pink to allow Williams in to clear with 55. The pair then traded centuries before O’Sullivan sealed a 5-3 win with a cool break of 78, capitalising on a loose safety shot from Mark Williams early in the frame.
Williams has still not beaten O’Sullivan since the 2001 Thailand Open, but will be pleased with his form at the moment as he looks to regain his top 16 place. Despite failing to qualify for the Grand Prix he looks good to do so, though there is a long way to go yet this season.
Meanwhile, looking ominously good today O’Sullivan will take some stopping as he looks to win his third ranking event in a row on Sunday.
Stephen Maguire 5-4 Ryan Day
In the second semi-final it will be Stephen Maguire who awaits O’Sullivan in a clash between the world numbers one and two. Maguire came through a close match with friend Ryan Day today, eventually taking it 5-4.
Both played well as throughout the match neither player could manage to put more than a frame between them and it became pretty obvious from about 2-2 that this one was going all the way. In the decider both had their chances but ultimately a missed blue from Ryan was to prove fatal as he left Stephen in amongst the reds with a chance that he was never going to let slip away.
Should be a good match tomorrow between snooker’s top two players right now, however it ends up both will pull even further ahead of the current number three Shaun Murphy after this event in the rankings.
Quarter Finals
Steve Davis 2-5 Ricky Walden 69-17, 51-38, 43-81(53), 11-87(71), 22-82(65), 65-70(58), 0-139(139)
Mark Selby 5-3 Marco Fu 77(77)-27, 6-123(78), 35-80(52), 48-75, 89(35)-52, 83(64)-7, 113(85)-30(30)
Mark Williams 3-5 Ronnie O’Sullivan 1-93(93), 0-87(87), 89(45)-0, 0-100(100), 57(55c)-53(53), 128(128)-0, 1-78(78)
Stephen Maguire – Ryan Day 53-67(27c), 90-21, 0-81, 114(114)-0, 89-5, 49-67, 77(64)-33, 0-70(61)