Matthew Stevens ended the Irish Masters hopes of crowd favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan with a stunning 6-4 victory at Dublin's CityWest Hotel this evening. Stevens, responsible for Jimmy White's exit earlier in the week, will look forward to his second semi-final in a month after this confidence building win which included breaks of 68, 66 and 120.
O'Sullivan, who beat Stephen Hendry 9-8 to win the title 12 months ago, had injured his right hand playing football last week but still compiled breaks of 103 and 88. The unpredictable world champion was in no mood to answer questions in the post-match press conference, preferring to give one-word replies, but he stressed the accident had no bearing on the result.
Stevens, who now meets John Higgins for a place in the final, did not feel overawed by O'Sullivan's vociferous support.
Filed by Shane Murray
