Ronnie O’Sullivan is through to the 89th ranking event semi-final of his career after a 6-4 win over Ali Carter at the International Championship in Tianjin.
Victory for O’Sullivan enhances his already dominant head-to-head record with Carter, which he now leads 17-1. However, he was made to work for it this evening against the typically tenacious Carter, who has been in good form this season and was runner-up to Judd Trump at the Wuhan Open.
World number one O’Sullivan was already safe in the knowledge that he will end this tournament on top of the rankings, despite having faced challenges from Trump, Mark Allen and Luca Brecel before their exits from the event. He is now just two wins away from the 40th ranking crown of his career and the first since winning the 2022 World Championship.
After going 1-0 down this evening, O’Sullivan responded by taking two on the bounce to claim the lead. A break of 60 saw O’Sullivan hold the advantage in the fourth, but Carter hit back with a brilliant 69 clearance to steal on the black and draw level at 2-2.
A break of 44 saw O’Sullivan reply by taking the fifth by a single point and he then added the sixth to go 4-2 ahead. Carter refused to wilt and took the next two frames to restore parity. He had chances to move ahead, but it was O’Sullivan who crafted breaks of 60 in consecutive frames to close the door and get over the line. Next up is a semi-final clash with Zhang Anda on Saturday.
“Each match I win nowadays is one of the best wins of my life, because I’m old. I’ve been around a long time,” said 47-year-old O’Sullivan.
“I’m not getting better and if anything I’m not the player I was. Players are all striving to achieve, young and hungry. It is harder now. Normally I would win tournaments quite easily and wouldn’t drop many frames even against the top players. It is tough now. I enjoy any win I get. Ali is one of the in form players this season. He is the in form player and I managed to beat him. So for me it is a great win.
“Every occasion is a good one when I play, so it doesn’t matter who I am against really. I’ve always had good crowds, every match I have played is a big one. People want to beat me and take me down. I’ve had to deal with that all of my life so I’ve never played a match which isn’t a big one.”
Zhang progressed with a 6-3 win over 14-time ranking event winner and Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui. That means Zhang is through to his second semi-final of the campaign, after a run to the final of the English Open where he was runner-up to Trump.
The result keeps Zhang’s hopes of automatic qualification for the MrQUK Championship alive, while world number 15 Ding will have to wait a bit longer for his place to be confirmed.
Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown is through to the second ranking event semi-final of his career after a thrilling 6-5 defeat of Stephen Maguire.
Brown sensationally landed a maiden ranking title in 2021, by beating Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-8 in the 2021 Welsh Open final. It was a result which sent shockwaves through the snooker world, with Brown starting the event as a 750-1 outsider. However, he hasn’t been able to hit those heights since then, failing to go beyond the last 16 of ranking events in the aftermath.
The Antrim Ferrari has rediscovered his form this week and is now gearing up for one of the most important matches of his career tomorrow in the last four. He came into this afternoon’s quarter-final full of confidence after a stunning 6-3 win over Maguire’s Scottish compatriot and four-time World Champion John Higgins yesterday.
Brown led this afternoon’s tie 5-2, before Maguire came roaring back into contention. Breaks of 94, 77 and 115 saw him surge to three on the bounce and a deciding frame at 5-5. However, Brown composed a gutsy break of 57 which helped him to take the final frame and get over the line and earn a last four encounter with Tom Ford tomorrow.
Ford sealed his progression with a battling 6-4 win over European Masters champion Barry Hawkins. Leicester’s Ford hammered home breaks of 65, 125, 106 and 77 on his way to this afternoon’s victory. This will be the ninth ranking semi-final of his career.
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