Ronnie O'Sullivan digs deep again as Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters semi-finals line-up completed

For the second day in succession, Ronnie O’Sullivan produced a brilliant recovery with his back against the wall as he ousted world number two Kyren Wilson, 6-5, to keep alive his hopes of a record-extending 42nd career ranking event crown.

Having whitewashed an in-form Joe O’Connor 5-0 for his opening assignment on Tuesday, O’Sullivan came back from three down with four to play to pip Chinese youngster Chang Bingyu by the odd frame in the last 16 on Wednesday.

Against newly-minted Shanghai Masters champion Wilson, O’Sullivan was facing an opponent he had lost his last six matches to on the professional circuit, including at the last eight stage in China only a fortnight ago.

Arguably the best player on the planet right now having scooped six titles within 15 months, Wilson took the first frame of the quarter-final, but O’Sullivan levelled up with an 88 before going in front with an effort of 116.

A 75 helped former World Champion Wilson restore parity, and after the mid-session interval he took frame five (67 break) to move 3-2 up, although O’Sullivan squared it again (51 break) for 3-3.

For the first time in the contest, Wilson managed to put multiple frames between the players as he registered runs of 69 and 80 in moving 5-3 ahead - one away from the winning target.

At the point of no return, O’Sullivan conjured up his best spell of scoring in the contest, fashioning back-to-back centuries of 110 and 118; the latter effort came after Wilson got in first before fouling when accidentally hitting the black on his way through to another red.

Wilson also had a couple of half chances early doors in the decider but was unable to make any valuable contributions.

Bolstered by a break of 46 he made earlier in the frame, 49-year-old O'Sullivan managed to get over the line with a couple of more visits; the winning contribution being instigated by a fantastic long pot on a red.

O'Sullivan's opponent on Friday in the semi-finals will be Chris Wakelin who squeezed past Barry Hawkins, 6-5.

Like O'Sullivan, Wakelin has won his last two matches in this £2.3 million world ranking event via a deciding frame.

Efforts of 61, 65, 79 and 86 helped Wakelin establish a 4-1 lead in his latest fixture, but Hawkins battled back with a three-frame winning streak to level at 4-4.

The next two frames were shared, but it was world number 16 Wakelin who got the verdict along with the help of a 55 break in frame 11.

A former winner of the Snooker Shoot Out and a finalist in two other ranking events, Wakelin is now guaranteed the biggest payday of his career with at least £100,000 coming his way for making the semis at the Green Halls in Jeddah this week.

Neil Robertson will Elliot Slessor in the first semi-final on Friday afternoon.

Australian Robertson is going for his second ranking event title triumph in the Middle East having won the 2008 Bahrain Championship.

In a tie where back-to-back frames were won and traded between the players on five occasions, Robertson - who constructed a break of 139 in frame two - saw off recent Shanghai Masters runner-up Ali Carter, 6-4.

World number 29 Slessor kept his amazing run going as he scored the biggest win of his professional career, so far, in dispatching last year’s Saudi Masters runner-up Mark Williams, 6-5.

Efforts of 62, 130, 52 and 70 assisted Slessor to a 5-2 lead over the world number three, and when he was on a break of 60 in frame nine, he was within touching distance of the win.

However, he couldn’t quite get it done there, and Williams stuck in to steal the frame on the final black before forcing the match all the way.

It would be a quintessential deciding frame that went down to the colours with drama aplenty and misses from both players, but Slessor remained positive, sinking a fantastic long yellow and potting the remaining balls he required to get the ‘w’.

Slessor has now won his last four matches here via deciding frames, and he has seen off former World Champions in each of the last three rounds - John Higgins, Stuart Bingham, and Williams.

The 31-year-old moves into the fifth ranking event semi-final of his career; he will be aiming to appear in his maiden final.

Before this year’s event, Slessor’s biggest payday on the professional circuit was £30,000. He has over trebled that amount this week already.

Please visit our 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters tournament information centre here for the draw, results and other details on the event.