Joe Perry, Marco Fu, Ding Junhui and Graeme Dott make up the semi-final line-up of the International Championship, after Fu knocked out Mark Selby and Perry produced an equally great performance to beat Ryan Day 6-1, while Dott played well in beating Liang Wenbo and Ding won a marathon match 6-3 over Peter Ebdon.
So let's take a look back on today's quarter-final action:
Marco Fu 6-5 Mark Selby - Marco Fu produced a wonderful comeback from 5-3 down to beat Mark Selby and go into the semi-finals. The match started poorly for Marco, as he was unable to close out the opener, and a break of 58 from Selby allowed him to steal. The same thing happened in the next frame, with Fu losing the frame from 74 points ahead, with breaks of 40 and 35, allowing Selby to steal it by a point. Fu soon pegged Selby back though taking a scrappy third frame to make it 2-1. Marco then squared the match, ahead of the mid-session interval with a break of 59, and a break of 88 put Fu 3-2 ahead. Selby took a scrappy sixth frame though to level the match once more, he got into his stride, a break of 50 putting him back in front and a break of 79 put him 1 from victory at 5-3. He should've won next frame, but Fu stole it by a point with a 34 clearance, and this really spurred Fu on. An 84 from Fu took the match into the decider, and a magnificent pressure break of 112 completed Marco's comeback and gave him a 6-5 win that put's him into the last 4.
Joe Perry 6-1 Ryan Day - A superb performance from Joe Perry saw off Ryan Day 6-1, to book his place against Marco Fu in the first semi-final tomorrow. Day started well taking the opening frame with a break of 72. It only went downhill from there for the Welshman. Perry won the next frame on the black, and stole the next with a break 70 to lead 2-1. Perry then made a magnificent break of 134 to got into the interval with a 3-1 advantage. The storm didn't let up for Day after the break, as he only made 14 more points in the match, as Perry made breaks of 115, 71 and 103 to seal the match, 6-1 in no time at all.
Ding Junhui 6 - 3 Peter Ebdon - Ding Junhui beat Peter Ebdon in a marathon match that went on for well over 4 hours and finished at around 12.40 am in Chengdu. The match started out at a reasonably good pace, with the Chinaman winning the opening 2 frames, helped by breaks of 86 and 76. The third frame was the first of the marathon frames that were to follow, with Ebdon eventually doing another to take it, and close the gap to 2-1. He should have levelled the match at the interval, in another lengthy fourth frame, but an early 60 break wasn't enough for Peter to win it, and Ding stole it for a 3-1 advantage. Another long frame followed after the break, with neither player being able to find any rhythm at all, not surprisingly it was Ebdon that took it to close the gap to 3-2. Ding was able to find some rhythm in the next couple of frames, extending his lead to 5-2 with runs of 82 and 83 helping him go within a frame of the last 4. As you'd expect Peter kept on fighting, and was able to grind on in the eighth frame, which was another fairly long affair, but the main thing for Peter was that he took it, and kept the match alive at 5-3. After a re-rack, and a very lengthy safety battle (lengthened further by what were deliberate tactics at this stage from Ebdon), Ding was able to get in and a break of 62 took him over the winning line and booked his semi-final spot. Peter just couldn't get into the game, and Ding's improved maturity and patience paid off, as he eased through in the end.
Graeme Dott 6- 3 Liang Wenbo - Ding will now play Graeme Dott, after the Scot knocked out Ding's compatriot Liang Wenbo 6-3 in the other match this afternoon. Dott started the match well with a break of 97 comfortably giving him the opening frame. Wenbo needed 3 chances to close out the second, but he eventually took it and levelled the match at 1 all. The third was a fairly scrappy affair, with both players having plenty of chances, but it was Dott that soon prevailed for the 2-1 advantage. An important 68 before the interval, allowed Liang to level the match once more at 2-2. After the break Graeme began to dominate. A break of 82 put him back in front again, while runs of 27 and 30 were enough to put him 2 clear. Wenbo pulled one back, taking the seventh with the help of a nice contribution of 65, to close the gap to 4-3. Dott pulled away again though, with a lovely 91 putting the 2006 World Champion one from victory at 5-3. He needed more than one chance in the ninth, but a break of 45 was enough for him to take the match, and put him into the last 4.
First semi-final preview:
Joe Perry Vs Marco Fu - The first best-of-17 semi-final (played over 2 sessions) will be played tomorrow between Joe Perry and Marco Fu. Both players have been playing well all week, especially Perry, who made 3 century breaks in today's quarter-final, and hasn't looked back since being 5-1 down in the last 64. Perry however, has never won a ranking event, and only won his first professional tournament earlier this season, capturing the first Asian Tour Event. Despite this, I think that Perry has showed this week that he is certainly good enough to win this match and go on to take the title on Sunday, and that it is just about keeping up the standard of snooker he was playing against Ryan Day in particular. Marco Fu though will prove no walkover for Perry, and he has played some equally good snooker all week long. He reached the final of the German Masters in February and won the Australian Open in July, whilst also getting back into the top 16, which shows that this is not a one off. It's great to see Marco back to his best now, and only his best will be good enough tomorrow, if he is to beat Joe. My overall prediction would be for a very tight encounter throughout, with both players playing at a high standard. With Perry never winning a ranking event though, this could come down to nerve and experience.
Prediction: A 9-7 win for Marco Fu
Well it is shaping up to be quite a weekend of snooker, with 4 quality players left in the event. I look forward to watching tomorrow's semi-final, and will bring you a review of that and a preview of the 2nd semi-final tomorrow.
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