Ronnie O'Sullivan and Graeme Dott will clash in the first of tomorrow's semi-finals at the China Open after both were victorious in their respective quarter-finals at the Beijing University Gymnasium today.
While Dott cruised to a 5-2 win over fellow Scot John Higgins, two-time tournament winner O'Sullivan had to battle back from 3-2 down, winning three frames on the spin to beat Hong Kong's Marco Fu 5-3.
O'Sullivan and reigning world champion Dott can now look forward to a repeat of last season's 888.com World Championship semi-final, where Dott was a 17-11 winner. His opponent expects a tough match when the pair lock horns again.
‘It's not going to be easy but, if I play decent snooker, I should win,’ said O'Sullivan, who was disappointed with the way he performed today.
‘It's strange, I'm winning and playing so poor. I made some silly mistakes, but I'm used to playing poor. I'm fed up of talking about how poor I'm playing.’
Regardless of his own assessment, this season's SAGA Insurance Masters champion still pocketed breaks of 110, 62, 63, 87, 55 and 79 to end Fu's run.
Fu started the brighter and deserved his lead thanks to breaks of 100 and 64, but O'Sullivan found another gear to guarantee himself at least £8,750 in prize-money having progressed to the last four.
‘He played well towards the end, all credit to him,’ reflected Fu. ’I'm happy with my performance, that's the best I've played in China, but I ended up losing, which is tough.
‘Ronnie's the best player in the world, it's definitely a good improvement for me. I played good, but not good enough.’
Meanwhile, Dott put friendship aside to deservedly dispose of good pal Higgins in their quarter-final showdown.
Breaks of 80 and 79 saw last season's Crucible king race into a 2-0 lead, before Higgins, last year's Grand Prix and Masters champion, leveled the match with an 84 break in the fourth frame.
But runs of 97, 106 and 102 saw Dott cruise over the winning line and set-up a mouth-watering meeting with O'Sullivan.
‘Tomorrow should be a class match,’ predicted Dott. ‘I didn't miss a ball against John, I'm playing really well. I played well at the UK Championship earlier this season, but I think I'm playing a lot better now.
‘Ronnie's a great player, but when I beat him at the World Championship last year, it was probably the best I've ever played. I'm looking forward to the match.’
