The semi-finals of the International Championships will be contested by Mark Allen, Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and Robert Milkins after they all had some fantastic victories into todays quarter-finals. Mark Allen won 5 frames in a row after the mid-session break against Michael White to come from 3-1 down and beat the young Welshman 6-3. Mark Williams is now the man left flying the flag for the Welsh after he got his first ranking event victory against Ronnie O'Sullivan for 12 years winning 5 frames in a row from 3-0 down against the Rocket before winning a nervy decider. Things were much more clear cut for Ricky Walden who played superb snooker in thrashing Jamie Burnett 6-1, with 3 centuries in that match. He'll now play Robert Milkins who was involved in a very close match from start to finish against Marco Fu, with their never being more than one frame in it as Robert beating the man from Hong Kong in a deciding frame.
Quarter-Final Results:
Mark Allen 6-3 Michael White
Mark Williams 6-5 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ricky Walden 6-1 Jamie Burnett
Robert Milkins 6-5 Marco Fu
Now that we're into the semi-finals the stakes are of course very high and to match that the format is up to the best of 17 frames with the first semi-final between Ricky Walden and Robert Milkins being played across two sessions tomorrow, while the semi-final between Mark Allen and Mark Williams will be played across two sessions on Saturday before Sunday's final. With the four players we have left I think it's all very even and I wouldn't want to pick a winner from here.
Semi-Final Draw: (Picks in bold)
Ricky Walden Vs Robert Milkins (Friday) - Both Robert Milkins and Ricky Walden are evenly matched players that are actually quite similar in a number of different ways. They both have smooth, rhythmic styles around the table and look at total ease when amongst the balls and good form, as both of these guys have been this week. When they're in form they're incredibly dangerous players, but they can also be very inconsistent across a full season mixing brilliant performances with very poor ones. The last time these 2 met in a major tournament was back in the 2013 World Championship last 16, and on that occasion Ricky Walden ran out the 13-11 winner. So far this week, the general standard of player Robert Milkins has had to beat has probably been slightly tougher than Ricky Walden with Walden beating Morris, Yuelong, Swail and Burnett while Milkins has beaten Pinches, in-form Shaun Murphy, Xiao Guodong and Marco Fu. They've both played very well though and Walden had 3 centuries today against Burnett and another 2 in the Last 64 against David Morris so he's had his best scoring boots on in Chengdu. Milkins has also played incredibly well and kept his opponents under huge pressure round after round but in the last two rounds he's had to work very hard physically and mentally in 2 very tough games to get the victories. Over two sessions I just fancy that Ricky Walden has more left in the tank than Robert Milkins and that could decide this one.
Mark Allen Vs Mark Williams (Saturday) - The battle of the Mark's on Saturday is sure to be a very tense one and a very close one. Both guys have beaten some very good opponents and some very good wins, scoring well and looking confident. Allen so far this week has had victories against Nigel Bond, Martin Gould, Stuart Bingham and Michael White having to work very hard in the last 3 of those games, having to come from multiple frames behind in 2 of those. Mark Williams meanwhile has had comfortable wins against Oli Brown and Barry Hawkins to start the week, while having to work a lot harder against Sam Baird coming from 2-0 and 4-3 down to win 6-4, while he came from 3-0 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan today. Coming into this tournament Mark Allen was in great form winning the Paul Hunter Classic and reaching another ET Final as well as the Shanghai Masters and he's continued that this week, although he has gotten off to some slow starts this week in Chengdu. Mark Williams has also had some poor starts in the last 2 games but he's soon sharpened up and he's played some fantastic snooker at times this week, having come into this event with absolutely no form at all. In fact, the two centuries he's made this week are the only two he's had all season which tells it's own story. Allen also has the best of the recent head to head, but as we saw with Williams today, that doesn't always mean you'll win. I think Mark Williams is going to be very tough to stop. Certain things this week, including the chance to stop the rot against Ronnie, have made the Welshman very determined to do well and he's showed this throughout the week, but especially today against O'Sullivan and you could see out there from his frustrations at times that winning that match and going far in this event means absolutely loads to him. At this stage of an event you are always inclined to look at who wants it more, and there's nobody left in this tournament that will want the victory more than Mark Williams such is the determination he's showed and the hard work he's been putting over the last few months on and off the table are testament to the fact that he still thinks he's capable of being back at the top of the rankings.
It looks like a very exciting climax to this tournament and I do have a great likeness for the best-of-17 frame, two session semi-finals that have produced some amazing matches over the years in the UK Championships and I have no doubt that we're going to be in for a couple of cracking encounters over the next two days. So it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy the closing stages of this event.
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