I really enjoyed watching the 2026 English QFs yesterday. I feel that having slightly longer matches a this stage is a real bonus. Also, having two tables in use in the afternoon is a welcome change. Before this year, the two afternoon matches were not played “in parallel”, only one table was in use. As a result, it often happened that the second match didn’t finish “in time” and pushed the evening session, or one of the evening session matches, later that scheduled, causing all sorts of issues. Last year, for instance, the “afternoon session” second QF between Marl Selby and Jackson Page went to a decider and finished just four minute before 9 pm local time. As a result, the QF match between Mark Allen and Elliot Slessor started late and finished past one thirty in the next morning. This wasn’t fair on the players, nor was it fair on the fans who wanted to watch that match and, maybe, could not stay that late, be it because they got really tired or because they relied on public transport and couldn’t afford to miss the last bus …
Essex cueman Ali Carter won the last three frames to overhaul Zhou Yuelong and prevail 6-5 to make the semi-finals of the BetVictor English Open on home turf in Brentwood.
The Englishman came into this afternoon having lost his last three meetings with Zhou. His previous win over the Jumping Dragon came at the 2019 World Championship.
Victory sends Carter through to his 35th ranking event semi-final, where Chinese legend Ding Junhui awaits. The Captain is aiming to land a seventh ranking title and a first in a full format knockout tournament in his home country.
Zhou’s hunt for maiden ranking event glory continues. He has now bowed out in the quarter-finals 11 times, the semi-finals six times and the final four times.
It had looked like Zhou was set for the semis when, leading 5-3, he moved 55-0 ahead in the ninth. However, after missing a straightforward yellow Carter pounced and cleared with 71 to remain in contention at 5-4. Breaks of 77 and 74 came in the next two frames as the 47-year-old surged to a dramatic 6-5 win.
“I felt when he missed the yellow it was one I had to clear from. That really hurt him. I’ve been on the end of stuff like that a lot throughout my career, as has anyone who has played the game for as long as I have,” said two-time Crucible finalist Carter.
“I thought I was going home. The mad thing is, I felt the best I had all week and I thought I was going in the car to go home. This is just the game, typical, he’s missed the yellow and I’ve come back.
“That was a big match to get into the semi-finals. It is my home tournament and I’m delighted to still be in. It is all about winning, we are still punching for tomorrow.“
Ding came through with a superb display to defeat 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson 6-2.
That was his third straight defeat of Wilson and it sees the Chinese cueman through to a first semi-final since the 2025 Tour Championship.
Ding, who composed breaks of 93, 87, 59 and 76 during the win, said: “I played pretty well in the first three frames. He was under quite a bit of pressure, because whenever I got a chance I was able to take it and win the frame. The last two frames were actually very close, so it wasn’t that he was playing badly, it was more about who could take their chances when they came.
“I’m looking forward to it. For me, every day is a big day. I know how badly I was playing. Hopefully I can win more matches and build up my confidence. It is working at the moment.”
Shaun Murphy overcame Judd Trump 6-5 in a fiercely contested tussle to earn his place in the last four.
2005 Crucible king Murphy suffered heartache back in May when he lost the world final 18-17 to Wu Yize, while Trump recently lost the world number one spot to Zhao Xintong. It was Murphy who left the Brentwood Centre this evening with cause for celebration.
A break of 67 saw Murphy over the line and booked a mouth-watering last four clash with three-time World Champion Mark Williams.
Murphy said: “I had work done on my cue between the British and coming here. I’m effectively playing with a new cue and I’ve had tip trouble since. I think I’m on tip four! In that context, to get this far here, it is probably one of the best weeks of my snooker career. Judd may not be world number one anymore but he is one of the best on the planet. Beating him is a real feather in my cap.“
Welshman Williams prevailed 6-3 against his friend, compatriot and practice partner Liam Davies to reach the 70th ranking semi-final of his career.
20-year-old Davies leaves Brentwood after a landmark week, which saw him defeat World Champion Wu and make the quarters for the first time in his fledgling career.
Williams will head into his last four showdown with Murphy in fine form, having made breaks of 63, 95 and 112 this evening.
Ding yesterday played really well and reminded us what a beautiful player he is when at or close to his best. He’s a delight to watch.
Zhou Yuelong, I feel, may benefit from working with a “mental coach”. He should never have missed that yellow yesterday, and it’s not the first time that we see him missing a crucial ball and seemingly never recover from it in the match. Credits to Ali Carter though because he took his chances afterwards and didn’t allow his past defeats to Zhou to become a psychological negative factor. The issue for Zhou, of course, is that, for such “mental coaching” to be efficient, the coach and the “coached person” need a common language that they fully master. Hence that means that, ideally, Zhou would need a mental coach who is a native Chinese speaker.