Ronnie O’Sullivan made a flying start to his campaign at the inaugural Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker by whitewashing John Higgins 4-0 with three centuries.
Despite starting the match at almost 0150 GMT due to a late finish in Mark Allen's thrilling 4-3 triumph over Mark Selby, the Rocket rattled in breaks of 135, 129 and 102 to lead 3-0 and almost made it four centuries only to break down on 82 in the fourth.
Higgins only managed four points in the entire match and they came courtesy of a foul at the start of the third.
O'Sullivan will next play Judd Trump, who edged out Shaun Murphy 4-3, in Wednesday afternoon's semi-finals.
Murphy led 2-0 thanks to breaks of 126 and 121 before Trump battled back to win four of the next five frames to keep alive his hopes of winning the £250,000 top prize.
Allen also came through an incredible deciding frame to edge out Selby, who led by 45 points with two reds remaining.
It eventually came down to the pink and black which the Northern Irishman potted spectacularly to set up a semi-final with Luca Brecel.
Incredible finish from Mark Allen 😯#snooker #ilovesnooker @pistol147 pic.twitter.com/KArao3uyDI
— I ❤️ Snooker (@ILoveSnooker_) March 5, 2024
The world champion looked sharp in a 4-1 win over Ali Carter.
Draw and round-by-round results
FIRST ROUND
- Ding Junhui 4-0 Omar Alajlani
- John Higgins 4-0 Ali Alobaidli
SECOND ROUND
- Ali Carter 4-3 Ding Junhui
- Mark Williams 2-4 John Higgins
QUARTER-FINALS
- Mark Allen 4-3 Mark Selby
- Luca Brecel 4-1 Ali Carter
- Judd Trump 4-3 Shaun Murphy
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 John Higgins
Daily schedule & results
MONDAY MARCH 4
First round (best-of-seven frames)
- Ding Junhui 4-0 Omar Alajlani (1400 GMT)
- John Higgins 4-0 Ali Alobaidli (1500 GMT)
Second round (best-of-seven frames)
- Ali Carter 4-3 Ding Junhui (1900 GMT)
- Mark Williams 2-4 John Higgins (2000 GMT)
TUESDAY MARCH 5
Quarter-finals (best-of-seven frames)
- Mark Allen 4-3 Mark Selby (1400 GMT)
- Luca Brecel 4-1 Ali Carter (1500 GMT)
- Judd Trump 4-3 Shaun Murphy (1900 GMT)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 John Higgins (2000 GMT)
WEDNESDAY MARCH 5
Semi-Finals (best-of-seven frames)
- Luca Brecel v Mark Allen (1400 GMT)
- Judd Trump v Ronnie O'Sullivan (1600 GMT)
Final (best-of-nine frames)
- Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2 (1900 GMT)
