Mark King pulled off a huge shock at the English Open, beating world number one Judd Trump to progress to the semi-finals.
The former Northern Ireland Open champion has seen results harder to come by more recently, but he has found his groove in Milton Keynes this week and ran out a worthy winner over the defending champion.
King settled any early nerves he would have had when claiming the opening frame with a run of 65, but having doubled his lead, normal service looked to have been resumed when Trump reeled off three frames on the bounce with breaks of 52, 84 and 63.
It was at this point that King would have been forgiven for buckling under the pressure, but the 47-year-old responded by dominating frame six before pinching a crucial seventh frame.
Trump was firmly in control when in first with a break of 49, but he allowed King back to the table and was made to pay for a lapse safety on the blue which would ultimately cost him the frame.
With the winning line in sight, King enjoyed a huge slice of luck when fluking a red to set him on his way in frame eight and he just had to hold himself together to set up a last-four meeting with Neil Robertson.
The Australian edged a high-quality affair 5-4 against Kyren Wilson on Friday evening, hitting breaks of 104, 95 and 126 in response to the Englishman's 117 and 110 in a rollercoaster battle that finished with Robertson's run of 70 in the decider.
2016 Northern Ireland Open champion @markking147 reacts after knocking world number one Judd Trump out of the @BetVictor English Open.#EnglishOpen pic.twitter.com/IUue901B2V
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) November 5, 2021
Ronnie makes short work of Brecel
Ronnie O'Sullivan enjoyed a much more straightforward afternoon, oozing class as he breezed past Luca Brecel 5-1 to book his place in the semi-finals.
Despite not registering a century in the match, O'Sullivan was still able to produce five breaks of over 50 as he outgunned Brecel who himself came into the last eight in good touch but had no answers to The Rocket.
O'Sullivan opened up with breaks of 54 and 85 to win the opening frame, and he was soon 2-0 in front thanks to further run of 56.
Brecel hit back with fluent hand of 94, but there was no stopping O'Sullivan who then won three frames without response, chaining his opponent to his chair as he put together breaks of 69 and 90 to race over the winning line.
O'Sullivan will face John Higgins in Saturday's first semi-final after the Scot beat Yan Bingtao 5-3.
