Ding Junhui into UK Snooker Championship semifinal
Ding Junhui of China competes during the quarterfinal match between him and Mark Williams of Wales, at the 2023 UK Snooker Championship in York, Britain, December 1.
China's Ding Junhui edged Welshman Mark Williams 6-5 to earn his place in the semifinals at the UK Snooker Championship in York on Friday.
With Ding, a three-time UK Champion, leading 4-3, Williams won the eighth by a scoreline of 101-94, making it the highest scoring frame in snooker history. The 195 accumulative points beat the previous record of 192 set by Dominic Dale and Peter Lines.
Williams took the next to make it 5-4, before Ding restored parity and forced a decider. Ding eventually fired in a century break of 105 to seal victory.
Ding will next face Judd Trump, who held off Mark Selby's fightback to win 6-3.
Trump blitzed to a 4-0 lead, making breaks of 100, 93 and 52 along the way. Selby replied by taking the fourth, but Trump moved to the verge of victory with a run of 95 to make it 5-1.
Selby dug deep and took the seventh, before making 98 to pull within two frames at 5-3. However, Trump took the ninth to get over the line and make his first semifinal in York since 2014.
The other semifinal pits Ronnie O'Sullivan against Hossein Vafaei.
World number one O'Sullivan scored a 6-5 win over China's Zhou Yuelong for his 100th match win in the tournament and sees him reach the 90th ranking semifinal of his career.
O'Sullivan got off to a blistering start as breaks of 125 and 68 helped him on his way to establishing a 3-0 lead. But Zhou kept in contention by taking a scrappy fourth to head in for the interval 3-1 behind.
A break of 60 saw 39-time ranking event winner O'Sullivan regain his three-frame cushion, while Zhou found his feet and managed to claw his way back into proceedings and to the cusp of victory, with a four-frame burst to go 5-4 up.
O'Sullivan clicked back into gear just in time with runs of 77 and 122 to fight back and secure a thrilling 6-5 win.
Vafaei earned his place in the last four with an impressive 6-4 win over International Champion Zhang Anda of China.
For the second match in a row, Vafaei hammered home three centuries on his way to victory. He crafted runs of 120, 100 and 106 during the match.
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