Hereafter you will find the reports by WST on the QFs day in Jeddah:
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Day Seven: Sless Is More! Elliot Floors Williams
Elliot Slessor beat a former World Champion in the deciding frame for a third consecutive day as a 6-5 victory over Mark Williams put him into the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
This is by far the best week of Slessor’s 12-year career as his biggest pay-day was previously £21,500 and he is now guaranteed £100,000. And the 31-year-old from Tyneside won’t want the run to stop yet as one more win would lift him into the world’s top 16 for the first time. On Friday afternoon in Jeddah he’ll meet another former Crucible king in Neil Robertson, who saw off Ali Carter 6-4.
Slessor, currently ranked 29th, started this event with a 4-1 win over Ben Mertens, then recovered a 4-1 deficit to beat Lan Yuhao 5-4. He went on to edge out John Higgins 5-4 and Stuart Bingham 6-5 before today’s success against world number three Williams. He’s into his fifth ranking event semi-final and another win tomorrow would earn a first final appearance.
Breaks of 62, 130 and 70 helped Slessor build a 5-2 lead before Williams pulled one back with a 74. In frame nine, Slessor was on 60 when he narrowly missed a tricky red to top corner, and his opponent battled back to pinch it on the black, before taking the tenth with a 51 for 5-5.
Both players missed chances in a nervy decider and it came down to the colours. Williams, runner-up in this event last year, went in-off when attempting safety, and Slessor took advantage with a cracking long yellow, then converted awkward pots on green and brown to cross the line.
“I am very relieved because I was feeling sick going into the decider, I thought I had missed my chance,” admitted Slessor. “It’s definitely a match I would have lost from that position three or four months ago. I have been working very hard on trying to hold myself together and waiting for the next chance. Usually in deciders I break off then someone makes a hundred so I don’t know what’s happening here! I’ll keep riding the wave.
“In the past I would have lost my temper or got impatient in those situations but I have worked on my temperament because you have got to keep swinging and you never know what could happen. I am very proud of myself to have beaten some tremendous players.
“In the last frame I was left with the long yellow, I fancied it and I hit it well. The green and brown were also tough but I jut told myself to keep my head still and commit to it. I have not been thinking about the money or ranking points, I am just trying to concentrate frame by frame.”
Australia’s Robertson battled to a hard-fought win over Carter to reach his 54th ranking event semi-final. After a slump in form which led to him dropping out of the top 16, Robertson bounced back last season by winning the English Open and World Grand Prix and climbing back into the top eight. And the 43-year-old looks to have continued that momentum into the new campaign. He already has one ranking title in the Middle East to his name having won the 2008 Bahrain Championship and remains in the hunt for a 26th career ranking crown.
Robertson led 4-2 today with a top break of 139, the 991st century of his career. Carter pulled one back with a run of 80, then snatched the eighth on the last black after Robertson had missed a short range frame ball red to a baulk corner when leading 71-25. The 2010 World Champion was able to regroup and regain the lead in the ninth with a break of 71. The tenth was a scrappy affair but Robertson took it by potting the last red along a side cushion and adding the points he needed.
He said: “When I lost form a couple of years ago I did all the right things, setting up a team around me of (psychologist) Helen Davis and Joe Perry so I have a good core of people I trust. Joe is here this week because it’s such a big event and he has been brilliant. I felt it was a matter of time before things would turn around.
“Elliot used to come and practise with me, he is very keen and always trying to get better. He often messages me asking for advice. I have a lot of time for him and he has done tremendously well this week. He is a hard battler and digs in when things get close“.
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Day Seven: Fireworks From O’Sullivan In Jeddah
Ronnie O’Sullivan produced another stirring fight-back at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, coming from 5-3 down to beat Kyren Wilson 6-5 to reach the semi-finals and raise his hopes of a first title in 17 months.
Arguably the best player in the world on current form having won four titles last season plus the recent Shanghai Masters, Wilson had chances to win in the closing stages but couldn’t take them and O’Sullivan left his fans elated by coming out on top in a thrilling finish. He’s into his 95th ranking semi-final and will meet Chris Wakelin on Saturday night, just two wins away from the trophy, the £500,000 top prize and a 24th major title.
O’Sullivan hasn’t lifted silverware since the Riyadh Season World Masters in March 2024 and hasn’t landed a ranking crown since the World Grand Prix two months earlier, and struggled with form and confidence for most of last season. The 49-year-old has started the new campaign with a new cue and refreshed attitude, and will have gained confidence from dramatic 6-5 wins over Chang Bingyu last night – from 5-2 down – and world number two Wilson tonight.
After losing the first frame, O’Sullivan responded with breaks of 88 and 116 to lead 2-1. Wilson made 75 and 67 to go 3-2 ahead but missed a tough pot on the penultimate red in frame six as O’Sullivan levelled. Last year’s World Champion Wilson looked the stronger player when he fired runs of 69 and 80 to lead 5-3, before O’Sullivan’s 110 halved the gap.
Wilson’s best winning chance came in frame ten but on 19 he misjudged a red, clipping the black first, and his opponent punished him with 118, his third century of the match. Early in the decider, Wilson missed a tough pink to a centre pocket, letting O’Sullivan in for a break of 46. After a tactical exchange, O’Sullivan drilled the third-last red from distance into a top corner which proved the winning shot.
“It was a tough match, I had to rely on Kyren to make a few mistakes,” said the seven-time World Champion, who had lost his previous three meetings with Wilson. “I was trying to stay with him because he will always be the stronger player these days. That was my aim, to make him work hard. I felt ok all night but I am still not playing enough good shots consecutively, I throw in some bad ones. I can use my experience, be patient and make it hard for my opponent.
“I get treated very well here so to do well in this tournament was a big ambition. Now I’m in the semis I’d like to do even better. We both had great support tonight from the fans, they were cheering my name at the end. I guess they remember seeing me when I was young and now I’m nearly 50, so they know I won’t be around for much longer and they want to see me play well towards the end of my career.”
Wakelin built on last night’s superb 6-5 win over Zhao Xintong by beating Barry Hawkins by the same scoreline. The 33-year-old is now guaranteed £100,000 which is his biggest career pay-day, eclipsing the £75,000 he earned for reaching the final of last season’s International Championship. He’s into a fifth ranking semi-final and first in a major.
Breaks of 61, 65, 79 and 86 helped world number 16 Wakelin build a 4-1 lead, before Hawkins recovered to 4-4. The next two were shared then Wakelin started the decider with an excellent 55, and with the remaining reds close to cushions he was able to nurse his lead to the winning line.
“It was very difficult, Barry is one of the toughest players on the tour, so I’m thrilled to come through 6-5,” said the former Shoot Out champion, who beat Neil Robertson and Mark Allen at the Crucible to reach the quarter-finals. “My long game was good to go 4-1 up. I made some mistakes after that but I knew I could still knock in the long ones when I needed to. I know I’ve got the game to win the semi-final and that’s the most important thing. I will give it my best shot.”
Hawkins became the latest victim of the so called ‘Ding Curse’ as the last 22 consecutive times that Ding Junhui has lost in a tournament, the player that has knocked him out – in this case Hawkins – has lost in the next round.
Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match
and some more images …
A century in frame 3
Another one in frame 8
And the final frame decider shared by WST on YouTube
This is a really good result for Ronnie. The 100000 ponds and points put him provisionally back in the top 16 both ahead of the World Championship and a at the end of the season.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 