Ronnie O’Sullivan today booked his place in the semi-finals of the Masters in double quick time against Ricky Walden, completing a 6-0 victory in just 58 minutes at the Alexandra Palace in London.
Next up for him, will be Stephen Maguire, after the Scot too impressed in defeating 2012 Masters champion Neil Robertson, while Mark Selby will face Shaun Murphy in the first semi-final tomorrow…
Ronnie O’Sullivan has produced some devastating displays of snooker during his long career, his his 6-0 demolition of Ricky Walden today was noteworthy even by his very high standards.
To put into context just how dominant a performance it was from O’Sullivan, from 39-1 down in the opening frame, the reigning world champion then proceeded to score 556 points without reply, smashing the previous record of 495 points without reply, set by Ding Junhui against Stephen Hendry back in the 2007 Premier League.
Ricky could do little but watch, admitting after the match that his opponent had simply been unplayable and certainly much improved following his opening round win against Robert Milkins on Tuesday.
O’Sullivan will next face Stephen Maguire, after the Scot produced a second strong performance of the week, this time to defeat world number one Neil Robertson with some margin to spare.
Following a turgid opening frame, it was Maguire who moved to a 3-0 lead, before Robertson took frames either side of the interval to close to 2-3.
With a combination of some outstanding safety play, as well as fearless potting however, it was Maguire who re-asserted himself upon the match, taking the next three frames to secure victory and maintain his hopes of a first Masters title in London.
No doubt tomorrow will bring a tougher test for Stephen, but clearly on what we have seen from him this week, he is playing well and in particular starting matches well, which is always important against a renowned front-runner such as O’Sullivan.
In the other half of the draw, Shaun Murphy faces friend Mark Selby in the first semi-final tomorrow, after both came back from behind in dramatic circumstances, particularly Selby from 5-3 down to John Higgins last night in a tension-filled affair at the Ally Pally.
Can anyone stop O’Sullivan?