Elliot Slessor
Elliot Slessor

Northern Ireland Open: Dream continues for Elliot Slessor


One day on from his shock victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan, Elliot Slessor reached the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open.

The world number 82 got the better of China's Li Yuan 5-4 as he became the first player through to the last four, having caused the upset of an unpredictable tournament on Thursday.

Given that neither man had previously been to this stage of a ranking tournament, it was no surprise that Friday's quarter-final was low on quality, Slessor's 52 break in frame five the highest of the match.

Only two frames saw either man score 80-plus points and the decider was in keeping with that which had gone before, Slessor edging it 55-20 after his opponent had unsuccessfully attempted to force snookers.

Slessor will face Mark Williams, tipped at 40/1 by our snooker expert Simon Crawford prior to the tournament, for a place in the final.

Williams eased past Mike Dunn, winning 5-1 despite losing the opening frame. Highlights included a break of 63 in the second and a match-high 71 in frame four.

In the evening session, Lyu Haotian went through to the semi-finals thanks to a 5-4 victory against Tian Pengfei.

Next up in the last four is Yan Bingtao after he was also taken to the limit in a 5-4 win over Robert Milkins.

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