Mike Dunn stunned current world No.2 Mark Selby today in the China Open quarter-finals beating him 5-3 to reach his first ever ranking event semi-final which is a brilliant performance for Mike, even if Selby was massively out of sorts. Mike will now play home hero Ding Junhui who saw off Mark King without much trouble, not quite playing at his best, but still showing signs of better form than that displayed at the Players Championship or World Open.
Neil Robertson continues to battle on in this event also, seeing off the incredibly gritty Graeme Dott earlier on today as he seemed to improve once again this week, having started the week off badly suffering badly from a virus, which is also improving. Neil will now play Ali Carter who looked to be cueing well against Ricky Walden, in a match that ended with some controversy over a poor refereeing decision that was soon overturned after the players found Jan Verhaas and asked him for a 2nd opinion.
Quarter-final Results:
Neil Robertson 5-3 Graeme Dott
Ali Carter 5-3 Ricky Walden
Ding Junhui 5-2 Mark King
Mike Dunn 5-3 Mark Selby
Semi-Final Preview: (Picks in bold)
Neil Robertson Vs Ali Carter - Both of these 2 guys have gradually improved as the week has gone, scrapping out the odd match when they've had to, digging in and playing some decent snooker at other times. You get the feeling that given this weeks form, this should be an even contest which you would expect from these 2 players, with one having to go up another gear to beat the other. Carter seemed to be cueing very well today against Ricky Walden, while Robertson's wins while being taxed by a virus will give him a lot of confidence as he has gradually improved as the week has gone on. If Robertson can improve again for tomorrow, I fancy that he will just edge this one.
Ding Junhui Vs Mike Dunn - On paper this looks like an enormous miss-match and one that you would expect Ding Junhui to win quite comfortably over a best-of-11 format. However, last weekend at the Players Championship grand finals we saw Gerard Greene reach his first ever ranking final, after a very unlikely win against Marco Fu (who was in good form coming into that match). Ding however, has been the dominant player this season and is probably now the tournament favourite with the draw he has now. The home favourite has also improved as the week has gone on, putting some poor form in the PC Grand Finals and World Open behind him, as he seeks some valuable momentum ahead of his World Championship bid. Sorry Mike, you've fantastically to get here this week and seen your incredibly hard work pay off, but I just can't see you making the final.
So then, it should be a nice conclusion to the week of snooker in Beijing, despite the damp feeling that this event certainly has as the attentions of many (including myself) has undoubtedly began to switch to the upcoming World Championship qualifiers starting next week, and then the main event itself at the Crucible theatre.
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