Semi-Final time at China Open

Four of the provisional top five in the world rankings make up a cracking line-up for semi-finals Saturday at the China Open. Mark Selby, Neil Robertson and Stephen Maguire all scored comfortable quarter-final victories, while Shaun Murphy came from 4-2 down to end Jack Lisowski's great run.

Quarter-Final Round-up

Mark Selby scored a comfortable win over Mark Williams beating the Welshmen 5-1 in a similar fashion to their Masters quarter-final this year. Both men had chances in the first frame but Selby took it and an early lead. A break of 54 was enough for Williams to equalise, and he again had chances to take the third frame and lost. A break of 53 wasn't enough for him to take the last before the interval, as Selby made 64 to steal. The Jester from Leicester took the next frame and sealed his last 4 spot with a break of 72.

He will now play Shaun Murphy who came from 4-2 down and really struggling, to scrape through 5-4 against Jack Lisowski. Young Lisowski took the first frame thanks to an early break of 62. Murphy hit back with a 137 total clearance. In the next frame, Murphy came back from needing 3 snookers and managed to get an incredible fluke on the black to lead 2-1. After Murphy missed a tough early black, Lisowski made 71 to equalise at the interval. He took the next 2 as well to take a 4-2 advantage. Murphy went into comeback mode though as Lisowski missed chances to win 5-2 and 5-3 as the provisional world number 4 forced the decider. Lisowski had chances in the decider as well but after he missed the green off of the spot Murphy managed to pull off the comeback and reach the semi-finals.

Stephen Maguire and Stuart Bingham really failed to shine as Maguire took out a scrappy encounter 5-1. Maguire made a 102 break in the opener and took the next two as well to lead 3-0. Bingham got his first and only frame on the black in the fourth. A break of 73 in the fifth made it 4-1 to Maguire and after Bingham missed opportunities in the sixth, the Scotsman got through to the last 4.

Neil Robertson will now meet Maguire in the semi-finals, after a 5-2 victory over Marcus Campbell. A break of 50 gave Campbell the first but breaks of 87 and 89 put Robbo in front, 2-1. The Scot managed to take the fourth and would have been thrilled to go into the interval at 2-2. The Aussie made a 50 break to reinstate his lead, and that advantage was doubled as Robertson made a fabulous 113 to put him one frame from advancing. It didn't take him long to seal the match as he punished Campbell for missed opportunities and made it through to the next round.

Semi-Final draw and Predictions

6.30 am UK Time

Mark Selby Vs Shaun Murphy - Murphy will need to play much better in this one otherwise it will be a comfortable win for Mark Selby, but don't write Shaun off.

11.30 am UK Time

Neil Robertson Vs Stephen Maguire - Maguire will need to play better than in his last two matches if he is to make consecutive China Open finals, but he is well capable of producing much more. Otherwise it should be a final spot for the in-form Neil Robertson.

So a cracking line-up for Easter Saturday in Beijing in what promise to be 2 close encounters.