All four quarter-final matches were played yesterday in Shanghai.

Ronnie beat John Higgins in a deciding frame, by 6-5, having trailed 2-5. He struggled for most of the match, battled hard and eventually found some form as he finished with two centuries. My report on that epic is here.

Here is WST report on the other matches:

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Selby will be full of confidence heading into the last four, after he earned his place courtesy of a 6-1 demolition of Judd Trump.

The win is Selby’s first over Trump since 2015, having lost their previous five encounters. Today’s result is a dramatic reversal of fortunes against Trump for the four-time Crucible king.

It was Trump who took the opening frame this afternoon with a break of 70, but from there it was Selby who took full control of the tie. Breaks of 63, 75, 87, 80 and 83 helped him to six on the bounce and a place in the last four.

“As it turned out, Judd didn’t perform anywhere near as well as he can. When people like Judd play like that you have to try and capitalise. It doesn’t come round very often. Normally he is very good and unplayable or he plays to a good level,” said four-time World Champion Selby.

“China is an important part of our calendar and to not have it for three or four years has been tough. To come back with no restrictions is great and I speak on behalf of all of the players that we are happy to come back here.”

Australia’s Neil Robertson confirmed his place in the last four with a comprehensive 6-1 demolition of China’s Fan Zhengyi.

Robertson looked in deep trouble in his opening match against Ding Junhui, trailing 5-3, but he rallied to take the final three frames and emerge a 6-5 victor. Things were more straightforward for the 23-time ranking event winner this evening.

Breaks of 77, 62 and 107 helped 23-time ranking event winner Robertson to victory in just over two hours. He’s just one match from sealing a maiden appearance in the Shanghai Masters final. Standing in his way is World Champion Luca Brecel.

Brecel overcame Welsh Open champion Robert Milkins to book his semi-final slot. The Belgian had trailed 2-0 and 3-2 in this evening’s clash, but strung together four frames on the bounce to ensure he progressed to Saturday’s second semi-final.

I can’t comment on the Selby v Trump and the Robertson v Fan matches as I saw nothing of them. One observation though: strangely, whilst Ronnie and John Higgins have played each other a zillion times, Selby and Trump have clashed relatively rarely, considering they both reach the latter stages of events regularly. In general Trump had had the upper hand. Yesterday, Selby appeared very happy after the match, so he must be playing well.

Ronnie and Mark will play the first semi-final over two sessions – best of 19 – in Shanghai today. They will ply 9 frames in the first session, and a possible 10 in the second session. Based on what they have shown so far this week, I have to make Mark Selby favourite. That said, Ronnie yesterday really showed an iron will to win, so I certainly don’t write him off.

Neil Robertson won easily – by 6-1 – but it’s not as if he made a century in every frame. Fan was the only Chinese player remaining in the draw and that added a lot of pressure on his young shoulders? Comments from those who watched that match are welcome…

Luca Brecel beat Robert Milkins by 6-3 and this was a strange one. Milkins looked by far the stronger player in the first half of the match. He lead 2-0 and 3-2. After that, he appeared to lose both his game and his confidence. Luca didn’t score particularly heavily, but he came up with a lot of creative and unconventional shots, and got most of them. That type of game is difficult to play against.

Neil and Luca will play their semi-final tomorrow.

Here are some images of yesterday matches, minus the Ronnie v Higgins one), shared on Weibo by Sina Billiards

And also some pictures shared by Neil Robertson on Weibo. He’s meeting the fans after his win over Ding Junhui.