O’Sullivan Dominates Ding to Reach Riyadh Season Snooker Championship Semi-Finals

Ronnie O’Sullivan secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in Saudi Arabia by defeating Ding Junhui with a 4-0 score. The seven-time world champion, O’Sullivan, quickly established a 2-0 advantage, then sealed his victory with successive breaks of 129 and 113. Ding, representing China, did not score any points in the last two frames, while O’Sullivan concluded the match with a notable 84% pot success rate. The 49-year-old English player is scheduled to compete against Mark Allen in the semi-final on Friday. In an earlier match on Thursday, Mark Williams narrowly defeated world number one Judd Trump with a 4-3 score, also securing his progression to the semi-finals. The contest was evenly balanced at 2-2 until Trump, an Englishman, achieved a 107 break to win the fifth frame, putting him one frame away from victory. Williams, from Wales, then equalized to necessitate a deciding frame, where he overcame a 34-8 deficit to produce a 68 break and secure the win. Williams, a three-time world champion who will turn 50 next year, is now set to play Luca Brecel in the semi-finals. Williams commented, “Judd looked very good tonight, he didn’t look like missing. He has beaten me in a lot of deciding frame to it’s nice to win one.” Luca Brecel, from Belgium, also secured his place among the last four competitors by defeating world champion Kyren Wilson 4-3. In the final frame against Wilson, an English player, Brecel held a 42-1 lead but then missed a straightforward red ball, offering an opportunity to his opponent. However, Wilson managed to pot only one red before Brecel resumed play and confirmed his advancement. Brecel stated, “It was a good game overall, we both played some good stuff. At the end it was really tense. I thought he would clear up. When I came back to the table I just tried to stay composed. This is exactly what I need, to win these games against top players like Kyren.” Mark Allen, representing Northern Ireland, also advanced to the semi-finals after an impressive 4-2 victory against Mark Selby. Selby, an Englishman, executed a precise 68 clearance to take a 2-1 lead, but Allen then secured the subsequent three frames, featuring breaks of 76 and 75, to comfortably win the match.