O'Sullivan loses to dominant Zhao as Williams reins in Trump

Seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan suffered a 17-7 loss to a dominant Zhao Xintong as his World Championship semi-final came to an end a session early.

Zhao, 28, becomes only the second player from Asia to reach a Crucible final, nine years after his Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui, was runner-up to Mark Selby in 2016.

Leading 12-4, Zhao compiled breaks of 62 and 128, to dash any hopes O'Sullivan had of building some momentum after taking the first two frames of Friday evening's session.

While O'Sullivan, who is level on seven Crucible crowns in the modern era with Stephen Hendry, took the first frame after the mid-session interval, Zhao exhibited an incredible temperament to round off the match.

In front of a crowd overwhelmingly urging 49-year-old O'Sullivan to take the contest into Saturday, Zhao compiled breaks of 85, 63 and 88 to seal the most famous victory of his career.

His scintillating performance on Friday morning laid the platform when he became only the fourth player to win a session 8-0 against O'Sullivan at the Crucible.

And he was able to maintain that later in the day to become only the second player since John Parrott in 1994 to defeat O'Sullivan with a session to spare.

O'Sullivan, who has made no secret about struggling with his cue since snapping his old one at the Championship League in January, elected to change his tip and ferrule after Thursday's opening session against Zhao.

However, it did not have the desired impact as he missed a series of regulation pots against an opponent who punished him in ruthless fashion.

Zhao, a former UK Championship winner who is competing as an amateur, delivered the sort of clinical performance that suggests he may be ready to become the first player from China to take the title in Sheffield.

In the afternoon session in Sheffield, Judd Trump looked set to establish a big lead when he pulled 7-3 ahead of Mark Williams, but the veteran Welshman reined in the 2019 champion to leave the pair at 8-8 overnight.

Three-time winner Mark Williams showed all his snooker nous to catch up with Trump on Friday afternoon.

Trump, whose glory run six years ago gave him his only Crucible crown to date, extended his overnight lead from 5-3 by taking the opening two frames.

But Welshman Williams, 50, who is aiming to become the oldest ever finalist, rallied to take five of the next six frames on offer.

Just as in their keenly-contested 2022 semi-final, which Trump edged 17-16, the tension was palpable.

It was underlined by Williams uncharacteristically hitting his own cue in frustration when he thought he had given up the opportunity to win the 15th frame, in which he eventually triumphed before rounding off the session with a composed 96.

"Absolute carnage. Amazing snooker," said six-time world champion Steve Davis on BBC Two.

"Mark Williams looked edgy early on, but as the session panned out he got calmer and calmer. Judd Trump must be wondering what is going on - it's not his fault, but Mark Williams is playing the best snooker he has all week."

Their semi-final will get back under way at 10:00 BST on Saturday and finish in the evening session.

John Higgins and Graeme Dott both whitewashed O'Sullivan in sessions on their way to Crucible titles in 1998 and 2006, while Parrott did the same back in 1994 on only O'Sullivan's second appearance in snooker's blue-riband event.

However, to see it happen on O'Sullivan's 33rd appearance at the event only served to underline his comments - dismissed in some quarters - that he had only reached this last-four stage due to shortcomings of his previous opponents.

His problems from long range were particularly evident against Ali Carter, Pang Junxu and Si Jiahui, but he also toiled when presented with good opportunities to make sizeable contributions of his own.

And the decision to change the ferrule on his cue - the metal part of the cue near the top which affects the amount of side and swerve you can apply to the white - from titanium to the more traditional brass did not reap any rewards.

Instead, Zhao, who O'Sullivan has mentored at times, showcased his full repertoire of shots and by the end of Friday had remarkably achieved his 46th victory from 48 matches since returning from a 20-month ban.

He was one 10 players from China sanctioned in a match-fixing scandal. While Zhao did not directly throw a match, he accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.

As a result of that suspension he lost his place on the World Snooker Tour, and he had to win four qualifying matches to earn a Crucible spot. On this evidence he could return to the professional tour as world champion next term.

Joseph Hadfield: "Incredible snooker at the Crucible. Complete contrast in performances. Ronnie O'Sullivan's almost non-existent. So many missed chances. Almost flawless from Zhao Xintong."

Sam Wxm: "Zhao broke table yesterday, this morning he's just whitewashed Ronnie and now he's five frames from beating Ronnie and reaching final with session to spare. Never mind blink-and-you-miss-it Ronnie, blink-and-you-miss eight frames of rapid snooker. What a session from Zhao."

AnnieRoadL4: "That session of snooker was just sad to watch. Like watching Muhammad Ali fight Larry Holmes. There's nothing there anymore. Father time has caught up with Ronnie and his days of winning triple crowns are sadly over."

Nick from London: "Why should Ronnie play for snookers? Ronnie is off form, and a new tip. He is trying. Zhao is great and was the favourite."

Spencer: "Ronnie should stop now. He is clearly not enjoying it, and nobody who remembers how good he was wants to watch him play this badly"