Ronnie O'Sullivan kept his hopes of a record seventh Dafabet Masters crown alive thanks to an edgy 6-3 defeat of Neil Robertson in London.
It was a clash between the two most successful Masters competitors of recent years. Since the tournament’s move to Alexandra Palace in 2012, either Robertson or O’Sullivan has reached the final every year. However, the Rocket progressed on this occasion to book a semi-final spot against either Marco Fu.
O’Sullivan is seeking his first silverware of the 2016/17 season, having been runner-up at the European Masters, Champion of Champions and UK Championship.
It was the Thunder from Down Under who set an electric pace in front of a packed 2,000 strong audience. A run of 74 helping Robertson into an early 1-0 advantage. However, O’Sullivan responded immediately with a break of 64 to restore parity. The match then became more fragmented and both players struggled to find their fluent best.  They traded frames to go into the interval level at 2-2.
When they returned it was 2012 Masters Champion Robertson who edged ahead thanks to runs of 59 and 62, only to find himself pegged back once more by the Rocket to go 3-3.
As the winning line drew closer missed opportunities became more frequent with both players under pressure. A loose safety from the Australian allowed O’Sullivan to go 4-3 up in a scrappy seventh frame. Both players then missed simple reds to the middle in the eighth, before the Rocket cashed in on a fluked red to make 54 and move one frame from victory
The five-time World Champion O’Sullivan then clinched his third frame in a row with a break of 68 to book his semi-final berth with a 6-3 win.
Marco Fu cruised into the semi-finals of the Dafabet Masters with a 6-2 win over Mark Allen and looks in good enough form to beat his next opponent – Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Fu is playing the best snooker of his career so far, having won the Scottish Open last month and continued his hot streak this week in London. The world number eight from Hong Kong has made four centuries and nine more breaks over 50 in his two matches at Alexandra Palace.
He now faces what could be an epic clash against crowd favourite O’Sullivan on Saturday afternoon, with the winner to go through to Sunday’s final. Fu’s best Masters run came in 2011 when he got to the final before losing to Ding Junhui.
Breaks of 74 and 83 put Fu 2-0 ahead tonight and he stole the third frame by clearing from the last red. Allen battled back to 3-2 with runs of 70 and 54, but he then scored just five points in the last three frames.
Fu’s 97 made it 4-2 then he made a 140 total clearance, the new front-runner for the £10,000 high break prize. And he sealed victory in frame eight with a run of 65.