Snooker results: Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Stephen Maguire 13-5 to reach World Championship semi-final

By Sporting Life

06:56 · THU April 28, 2022

Ronnie O'Sullivan wasted little time in closing out his quarter-final win over Stephen Maguire, polishing off two frames on Wednesday morning to complete a comprehensive 13-5 victory.

Despite surging into an 11-5 lead overnight, O'Sullivan wasn't at his best on Tuesday as he battled with a troublesome tip, but he looked razor sharp a day later, waltzing into the last four with two picture-perfect frames.

In taking the final frame on Tuesday, Maguire had kept his faint hopes alive and he potted the first ball of the morning to suggest he was at least keen to delay O'Sullivan's march towards a 13th World Championship semi-final.

However, it proved to be his final pot of the match as O'Sullivan stepped in with a frame-winning run of 71 before signing off in style, treating the Crucible crowd to a Rocket special.

O'Sullivan served up a brilliant total clearance of 126 that once again underlined his claims as title favourite and set up a semi-final meeting with John Higgins.

O'Sullivan told the BBC afterwards: "It was workmanlike more than flowing. I've had to adapt and learn to try to steady the ship, and I think that's the key to being consistent and winning. It's about minimising the bad spells.

"A lot of it was my tip – it really was not great. I had to get that done and get used it. It felt better there, so it's just getting used to it really.

When asked about the prospect of playing on the one-table set-up at the Crucible again, O'Sullivan responded: "Yeah, I am looking forward to it. I do get the two-table set-up – it's very tense out there. When it comes to the one-table set-up you can relax a bit more, you've got the venue to yourself.

"I'm excited to still be in the tournament and to get on the one-table now.”

🤔 Would Stephen Hendry be gutted to have Ronnie O'Sullivan equalling his record of seven world titles?

Not one bit.

👏 @SHendry775 @ronnieo147 pic.twitter.com/QQa3HrlMAi
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) April 27, 2022

Though O'Sullivan is now closing in on Stephen Hendry’s record of seven world titles, the 46-year-old is adamant that the Scot’s dominance of the sport in the 1990s still makes him the greatest.

"Stephen is an all-time legend for me, the greatest player," O’Sullivan added.

"He was the Tiger Woods of snooker. Me, John (Higgins) and Mark (Williams) have all done well, but when he was flying he was a superstar.

"When there’s three of us, we’re not superstars. But when there’s one man dominating the sport like he did, like Tiger Woods, it’s a different level."

Williams digs deep to down Yan

Mark Williams produced a stunning finish to see off German Masters runner-up Yan Bingtao 13-11.

Williams had appeared firmly in control when leading 6-2, but the wheels threatened to come off in the second session when Yan roared back, turning the match on its head and drawing level at 8-8.

Yan ran with that momentum in the early exchanges of the concluding session, putting together breaks of 62 and 102 to move 10-8 in front, before Williams this time staged a fightback to bring the contest alive.

The Welsh veteran complied a sublime clearance of 135 in frame 19 and though Yan kept his cool to lead 11-10, Williams saved his best for one final flourish.

Mark Williams is back in a Crucible semi-final

Having knuckled down to level at 11-11, Williams then produced a nerveless break of 66 to put himself within touching distance of the winning line, before sealing his spot in the last four with a match-winning run of 78.

Williams, who at the age of 47 becomes the oldest Crucible semi-finalist since Ray Reardon in 1985, said: "I can’t believe I’m still competing with the big boys and getting to semi-finals and winning a couple of tournaments – it’s unbelievable.

"Last night really took a toll on me, I flagged really badly and if it had carried on there’s no way I would have won. But I just wanted to get back to the one-table set-up at the best venue in the world."

Williams faces Trump next

Williams will play Judd Trump in the semi-finals after the 2019 champion recovered from a dismal opening session of the day to reel off eight frames in succession and sink Stuart Bingham 13-8.

Bingham had turned a 5-3 deficit into an 8-5 lead, but his missed black in the next proved the trigger for a spectacular comeback by Trump, who took the last three frames of the afternoon session to set up his grandstand finish.

🤣 Brilliant from Judd Trump!pic.twitter.com/MTqgCyDBjE
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) April 27, 2022

“I could not pot a ball and I just tried to dig in and not get too down about it,” said Trump.

“I managed to get out of the session at 8-8 which I was unbelievably happy about, and I felt a lot more confident going into the evening session.”

Higgins came through a deciding frame with Jack Lisowski, eventually prevailing 13-12.

Higgins stood on the brink of defeat when Lisowski, who stunned favourite Neil Robertson in the previous round, retrieved a 11-9 deficit to take the lead for the first time since the first frame of the match.

But the 46-year-old drew on his decades of experience to respond with a century to force the decider, then seized on an early missed red by Lisowski to compile a match-winning break of 72.

"I really don’t know where those two frames came from at the end," admitted Higgins.

"I was struggling all day and I had not been taking my chances. You’ve just got to find a way to get over the winning line."