2024 Wuhan Open Snooker: Friday 11th October Semi-Finals Preview, Matches, Order of Play

For only the second time in professional snooker history, three of the last four contestants in a ranking event are from China, although it is current Wuhan Open champion Judd Trump from England who is the favourite to pocket the £140,000 first prize on Saturday in the Far East.

Now down to one table at the China Optics Valley Convention & Exhibition Centre, the semi-finals are the best of 11 frames. We preview both ties, below.

For full details on the 2024 Wuhan Open including the draw, results, prize money, schedule and how to watch, please visit our tournament information centre here.

07:00BST: Long Zehuang v Xiao Guodong

The opening semi-final is an all-Chinese clash between Long and Xiao, in what will be there first meeting on the professional circuit.

World number 29 Xiao was in scintillating scoring form during his 5-1 quarter-final win over Shaun Murphy, making century breaks in each of the opening three frames.

Since dropping only two frames in his first two matches of the tournament, Xiao has eliminated multiple-time ranking event champions in the following three rounds - reigning World Champion Kyren Wilson, Barry Hawkins, and then Murphy.

This will be Xiao's seventh appearance in a ranking event semi-final. He will be aiming to reach his third ranking final and ultimately pick up his maiden trophy. It has already been a very decent season for the 35-year-old; he collected the biggest payday of his professional career when he made the last eight of the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters (where he bowed out to Murphy), but a final outing here in Wuhan would better that recent £50,000 payday he took away from Riyadh.

Long - a second season professional who is from Wuhan - scored breaks of 94, 66 and 83 as he put the brakes on Jack Lisowski on Thursday with a 5-1 win.

It is already the world number 70's best result on the sport's top tier having not been past the last 16 of a ranking competition before. Long is guaranteed at least £30,000 for making the last eight - over treble his previous highest payday on the World Snooker Tour.

The 27-year-old began his campaign with a 5-4 victory against Mark Selby in the 'qualifying' round back in July in Leicester where he recovered from 4-1 down.

12:30BST: Judd Trump v Si Jiahui

It's an all top-16 encounter for the evening programme in the Far East as Judd Trump and Si Jiahui meet on the professional circuit for the seventh time.

The career head-to-head record makes very pleasant reading for Trump who has won all six of their previous showdowns. The two most recent came during this calendar year; in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters in July (6-2 to Trump) and the final of the German Masters in February (10-5 to Trump), although Si is now within the sport's elite ranking bracket.

Trump wasn't close to his best during his quarter-final victory over Chris Wakelin but the world number one regularly finds a way, as he ousted his opponent on the final pink in the deciding frame to further his 100% winning record over Wakelin to 14-0.

From having made five century breaks in his opening two match wins, Trump has had to grind a lot more in his subsequent fixtures in Wuhan this week but has still managed to see off ranking event winners in each of those three consecutive rounds. His 100% winning sequence in this tournament stretches to 12, and he has now won 29 of his last 31 professional matches in China.

World number 13 Si is into the fourth ranking event semi-final of his career. The 22-year-old registered runs of 83, 85 and 50 in the process of defeating fellow Chinese cueist Zhang Anda, 5-3, in Thursday's last eight.

It has already been a very important season for Si who broke into the world's top 16 for the first time following a semi-final finish at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. He will be looking to best Trump for the first time and appear in his second ranking final.