I will be honest, the way things have gone recently, and the not so positive mindset Ronnie seemed to be in, I never expected Ronnie to beat Mark Selby in their quarter-final match, but he did 😊 and I’m happy, not because I “hate” Mark Selby – actually I really like him – but because it’s such a nice “surprise” …

Ronnie will now face Chang Bingyu who beat Judd Trump quite convincingly as well.

Here is the report shared by WST:

Rocket Downs The Jester In Wuhan

Seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan scored a 5-3 win over Mark Selby, avenging a whitewash defeat in their last meeting, to make the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open. 

The Rocket and Selby have been engaged in one of snooker’s most significant rivalries throughout the years, having crossed cues in all three of snooker’s Triple Crown finals. Their previous clash saw Selby win 6-0 at the 2024 Players Championship. Today’s win for O’Sullivan moves him 18-12 in front in their head-to-head standings. 

O’Sullivan has been openly frustrated with his game this week and things appeared to be getting away from him when Selby established a 2-0 advantage this afternoon. However, at that moment the 41-time ranking event winner clicked into gear. 

Breaks of 87, 96 and 72 saw O’Sullivan turn the match on its head and move 3-2 up. Selby replied to restore parity, but it was to be the last frame he registered.

A moment of magic appeared to be on the cards in the seventh, with O’Sullivan on a 147 before breaking down by missing a simple red on 80. He didn’t let the disappointment linger and a superb 129 booked his spot in the last four, where he will meet Chang Bingyu. 

“We’ve had some unbelievable battles. I look at Mark and I know where he is at, as I was there seven or eight years ago. He has a lot of good years left in the game. I think he is going to be around for a long time. He is a legend of the game and an all-time great,” said 50-year-old O’Sullivan. 

“You have Zhao Xintong and Wu Yize, but this kid (Chang Bingyu) is up with them. Without a doubt. He was storming through the season and I said to my mate I fancied him to win the event in Taiyuan. He got beat by Neil Robertson but anyone can lose a match. He’s here in the semi-finals and maybe he is going to win a trophy. You probably have to say he is favourite to win the tournament.“

24-year-old Chang put on a sublime display to brush aside world number one Judd Trump 5-1 and end his reign at the summit of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings. 

Defeat for Trump means he is guaranteed to vacate the world number one position at the end of the week. That means tonight’s quarter-final between Zhao Xintong and Neil Robertson is a straight shoot out for top spot. 

Chang compiled breaks of 67, 69, 58 and 132 on his way to victory. He now earns a place in the semi-finals of a ranking event for only the second time in his career. 

Chang said: “It was really quite unexpected today. Before yesterday’s match I told myself to just relax and play, and that it would be enough if I could produce my own game. Today, I was also quite lucky because he just happened not to be in the best form.

“This is my best result in China so far. Previously, whenever I played in China, I would usually lose in the first or second round. I think this result is quite natural, because I feel I have put in a lot of work over the past two years.“

If you wonder what “the pen” got to do in the title of this piece … here goes

Ronnie O’Sullivan says a pen was reason for huge Mark Selby win

Ronnie O’Sullivan is into the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open after a fine win over Mark Selby and has credited the addition of a pen to his arsenal.

The Rocket has not been at his best for much of the campaign in Wuhan, but bounced back from losing the first two frames to beat the Jester from Leicester 5-3.

There were encouraging signs for O’Sullivan after a poor start, finishing the match with breaks of 80 and 129.

This came after some very harsh reviews of his own performances as he made his way to the quarter-finals as the seven-time world champion bemoaned serious technical issues in his game.

Apparently in an attempt to combat those problems, the 50-year-old has taken to holding a pen in his hand while in his seat and while wandering round Wuhan in between matches.

Speaking on his new RosUnplanned Instagram with wife Laila Rouass after beating Selby, O’Sullivan said: ‘I feel really good. The pen, my little comfort blanket when it was all going a bit pear-shaped.

At 2-0 down I was bang in trouble. Then the pen came into action, it’s all down to the pen. It’s nothing to do with me, it’s this little pen’

‘I had that pen in my hand and it makes me feel alright. So when I’m sitting in that chair I’m not thinking, “oh my arm’s this or that,” it puts you in half a decent frame of mind.’

O’Sullivan has spoken regularly about how uncomfortable he has felt with his game for three or four years, feeling that he changed his technique to his detriment.

Even far from his best he is capable of winning matches and he believes that if he can rediscover his old technique, or at least a different technique which feels better, then he can lift silverware again.

‘I don’t ever get involved in personalities when I’m playing the game, I’m always focused on how I’m hitting the ball,’ he told WST.

‘Am I playing well enough to play every shot that I need to play? And I haven’t been, so I’m worried whoever I play at the moment. It didn’t matter if it’s Mark Selby or number 128 in the world, I’m playing with zero confidence.

‘But I’m working hard on my game. I’m on the practise table a lot. I’m trying to figure out how to get out of this. I call it the disease, because it feels like the method that I took on, it’s ruined me really.

‘I’ve got no cue power, I’ve got no sense of direction, I don’t know where the balls are going. As a player you always have some anchors to hang on to. I used to have four or five. One wasn’t working, I’d try another one and then that would get me going.

But at the moment I just have nothing and I haven’t had for four years, so it’s just been a nightmare. But I’m going to give it a really good go to try and cure the disease, if you like.

‘It’s easier to call it a disease, I suppose, and if I can that would be great. But I think 18 months is a fair amount of time to try and unlearn it, and maybe try and find some flow.

‘Because if I play alright, I cue alright, I know I can still win tournaments. I don’t think the competition is that good and I don’t think I’ve got that bad. It’s just that I’m not cueing the ball well, so the balls are just not doing what I know they should be doing, or what I used to be capable of doing.’

In the evening session both matches were won by Chinese players, making Ronnie the only non-Chinese contestant in the semi-finals … has this happened before? I’m not sure.

Anyway, here is the report by WST on the evening session:

Zhao Beats Robertson In World Number One Battle

China’s Zhao Xintong swept to a 5-1 win over Neil Robertson to ensure he will become his country’s second world number one, in front of a delighted home crowd at the Wuhan Open. 

At the conclusion of this week’s event, Zhao will follow in the footsteps of the legendary Ding Junhui, who had two brief spells on top of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings between December 2014 and February 2015.

29-year-old Zhao achieved snooker immortality in 2025, by becoming China’s first ever World Champion. An 18-12 win over Mark Williams in the final saw Zhao claim glory at the Crucible Theatre. That laid the foundations for his ascent to the top of the rankings.

This evening’s meeting was a straight shootout for the world number one spot, with the winner guaranteed to reach snooker’s summit. Current world number one Judd Trump suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Chang Bingyu this afternoon. That means the Englishman’s reign, which began following the 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix, is guaranteed to end following Saturday’s final.

At the beginning of this week there was a five-way battle for top spot, with Trump, Zhao, Robertson, Wu Yize and Mark Selby all in contention. As Zhao is the last man left standing in this event, he is now set to become snooker’s 13th world number one. 

Zhao took the first two frames this evening, thanks to breaks of 106 and 91, before Robertson claimed the third to remain in touch at 2-1. A tight fourth frame saw Zhao crucially clear the colours to steal on the black and lead 3-1 at the mid-session. 

When they returned, he powered over the line with breaks of 113 and 54 to secure victory. He now faces Xiao Guodong in the semi-finals, knowing that whatever happens he will end the event on top of the snooker world.

“Before the match, I had a rough idea about the situation. A lot of fans had mentioned it to me, and I had also seen some of the comments. They said that this match was a battle for the world number one spot. But to be honest, personally, I didn’t really think about it that much. However, when I went 2-0 up against Neil Robertson, I did feel a little bit of a wobble inside,” said six-time ranking event winner Zhao. 

“At the moment, I probably haven’t really had the chance to fully take it in or savour it. I think after tomorrow, I’ll probably start to feel it more. Becoming world number one was definitely one of my dreams when I was growing up. Even now, after winning some ranking titles and becoming more settled mentally, I feel like being world number one isn’t necessarily my ultimate goal. But for a professional player, it’s certainly a very rare and special honour, so I’m extremely happy.“

Defending champion Xiao earned his place with a 5-3 defeat of three-time Crucible king Mark Williams. 

Xiao is aiming to win the Wuhan Open for a third successive year, having beaten Si Jiahui 10-7 in the 2024 final and Gary Wilson 10-9 in the 2025 title match. That would make him only the fifth player to win a specific ranking title three years in a row, after Trump, Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.

The match this evening had looked set to go to a decider, but Williams spurned a blue with a chance to win and eventually left Xiao an opportunity with the black near the green pocket, which he deposited to get over the line.

Xiao said: “Wuhan has brought me so much happiness. I’ve won two ranking titles here, and now I’ve reached the semi-finals again. Of course, I’d like to win three in a row, but I’ll just take it one match at a time. I’ve done my job now, and whoever wins the title out of of us, everyone will be happy.

“Congratulations to Zhao Xintong on becoming world number one. This is a very good sign for Chinese snooker. Apart from Ding Junhui, we now have another player who can be world number one. Chinese snooker is getting stronger and stronger, and that gives all of us encouragement.“

So, currently, in snooker, we have a Chinese World Champion in Wu Yize, and a Chinese Number one in Zhao Xintong.

In this event, we have a Chinese defending Champion in Xiao Guodong who is still on course to defend his title as we have reached the last-4 stage and two other Chinese semi-finalists.

And yet … those guys have to live as expats in the UK for most of the year because the “UK centric” organisation of the sport. How is that right?