Jimmy Robertson beats Mark Allen to reach maiden ranking semi-final

Jimmy Robertson is through to his first ever ranking event semi-final after defeating Mark Allen 4-2 in Lommel to complete an unexpected line-up for the last four. 

After winning the first frame on the colours, he then responded to Allen's 98 break in the second frame with breaks of 135 and 81 in the next two to move 3-1 ahead. Allen was able to get one back in the next, at which point the Englishman may have thought he was in for another decider, having won all his matches 4-3 to reach the last eight. He was able to get the job done without any black ball drama though and has taken out the highest ranked player to reach the quarters. 

Robertson will now face the player that has dropped the least frames on the way to the semi-finals and that is Mark King. The left-hander secured a 4-1 victory over Ryan Day, who was the only other top 16 player (alongside Allen) to have reached the quarters. After King took the opener, Day levelled with a break of 78 but that was as good as things would get. King made a 57 to win the next and seized on Day's mistakes thereafter, to ensure he has only lost three frames from his four matches in Lommel this week.

Many may have thought, looking at the last eight line-up, that this would be Lisowski's week to secure his maiden ranking title, but that is not to be this time after a 4-3 loss to Anthony Hamilton. The match was a pretty scrappy affair, with no breaks of over 50 recorded in the first six frames, before Hamilton had a run of 67 to clinch victory. The tone was set when Hamilton came from snookers required to win the opening frame, showing that Lisowski was not at his brilliant best that fans have become used to in the last year. 

Joe Perry meanwhile had to fight hard, after losing three frames in a row in the middle of his match with Tian Pengfei, before winning the last two to come out a 4-3 winner. Perry took the first with a run of 76 and soon added the second before the Chinese player came to life. Breaks of 70 and 66 in the third were backed up by a 73 in the fourth and a run of 57 in the fifth as Tian edged 3-2 ahead. Perry hit back strongly and made a clutch break of 69 to force the decider. The final frame went scrappy with the reds all being pushed to the side cushion, but Perry used all his experience with some excellent safety play to help him win the match. 

Out of the four semi-finalists, only three full ranking titles have been won between them (Perry - 2015 Players Championship finals, King - 2016 Northern Ireland Open and Hamilton - 2017 German Masters). Given the £75,000 winners cheque, a guaranteed place in the Champion of Champions and likely participation in at least the first of the three Ladbrokes series events next year, this is a massive opportunity for all four players left in the competition. 

Quarter-final results:

Joe Perry 4-3 Tian Pengfei
Anthony Hamilton 4-3 Jack Lisowski
Mark King 4-1 Ryan Day
Jimmy Robertson 4-2 Mark Allen

Semi-final draw: (Picks in bold)

Joe Perry Vs Anthony Hamilton
Mark King Vs Jimmy Robertson

The opening semi-final puts Joe Perry up against Anthony Hamilton. To reach this stage Perry has overcome Oliver Lines, Andrew Higginson, Tian Pengfei but most impressively Kyren Wilson in the last 16. Anthony Hamilton has come through some real tough opposition, beating Jack Lisowski and home favourite Luca Brecel in the last two rounds, continuing a good start to the season after last season's troubles. The head-to-head between the two has seen Perry win all four of their previous meetings, but none of those were quite at this stage of a tournament with as big an opportunity as the one that stands before them here. Given what is at stake it would hardly be a surprise to see a more timid affair and certainly a close tussle between the two which could well go down to the final frame. Hamilton to me though looks like he is close to the sort of form he showed two seasons ago, which could give him the edge this weekend. 

The second semi-final between Mark King and Jimmy Robertson is a tale of two players that have had differing routes to the final. King has only dropped three frames this week which is a remarkable effort given the four players that he has beaten. He started with a 4-1 victory over in-form Zhao Xintong before whitewashing Stuart Bingham and his since recorded further 4-1 wins against Ricky Walden and Ryan Day. Robertson on the other hand won each of his first three matches against Zhang Yong, Zhou Yuelong and Anthony McGill on the final black in deciding frames before another good win against Mark Allen, so both players have beaten strong opponents to reach this point. King looks very confident this week, which he should be with the way he is playing and has the experience over Robertson who can expect some nerves in what is the biggest match of his life so far. 

The semi-finals will be played over the best-of-11 frames with the winners moving into the best-of-17 frame final on Sunday and doubling their money from a guaranteed £17,500 to a guarantee of £35,000 and the potential for so much more.