Joe O'Connor fired three centuries as he added Shaun Murphy to his list of big-name scalps, storming to a 5-1 victory to reach the semi-finals of the Weide Cup World Open in Yushan.
O'Connor knocked out world number one Judd Trump earlier in the week, and also beat World Champion Kyren Wilson at the recent BetVictor Welsh Open. Today's the world number 39 thrashed Johnstone's Paint Masters champion Murphy to reach his fourth ranking event semi-final. He will meet Ali Carter on Friday and victory would earn him a second ranking final appearance, having finished runner-up at the 2022 BetVictor Scottish Open.
If O'Connor can go all the way to the £175,000 top prize in China, he could leap into the top 16 of the Johnstone's Paint One-Year rankings and earn a place at next month's Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford. Murphy, meanwhile, has made up ground this week in the Race to the Crucible but remains outside the top 16 of that list and will need wins over the trio of upcoming Players Series events to ensure a seeded status for the World Championship.
In a high quality contest, O'Connor opened with breaks of 135 and 100 to lead 2-0, before Murphy responded with a 128. Runs of 66 and 132 put Leicester's 29-year-old O'Connor 4-1 ahead, and a break of 68 in frame six helped him seal an emphatic win.
"I played really well and didn't give Shaun many chances," said O'Connor. "When the long pots are going in you have to punish the top players, that's what I did today and I'm proud of it. It's cementing confidence I have had for many years. This week it has all come together and hopefully I can win the trophy. If I play like that it will take a lot to stop me. I have been consistent for a while now and when my game clicks I feel I can beat anyone.
"I changed my cue before the Shoot Out, it's a new one from Maximus and I loved it as soon as I picked it up, I think I'll be sticking with this one. Matt Selt arranged it for me so I have to say thanks to him. I have gone to a titanium ferrule as well. I took the plunge and thankfully it has worked."
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Carter came from 3-1 and 4-3 down to beat Barry Hawkins 5-4 and reach his 33rd ranking event semi-final, and second in a row having appeared in the last four of the BetVictor Welsh Open. The 45-year-old started the season in perfect fashion by winning the BetVictor Championship League, then lost form for a few months but is now at the top of his game. This week's run has already boosted Carter from 18th to 16th on the one-year list and he's now on track to qualify for Telford, and is also into the top 16 in the Race to the Crucible.
Hawkins made breaks of 89, 66 and 91 to lead 3-1 before Carter recovered to 3-3. A run of 85 saw Hawkins regain the lead but he scored just 8 points in the last two frames as Carter compiled runs of 60 and 59 on his way to the winning post.
"I lost to Stephen Maguire in the semis of the Welsh, I felt I was hot favourite but I got myself at it, stopped myself from playing well and sort of threw it away," admitted Carter, who has won two of his six ranking titles in China. "I learned my lesson from that and I was determined not to do that again and lose due to my own temperament and stupidity. In this game you have to stick at it and be resilient. The older you get, the harder it is to do that. Today was a big win in terms of the Players Championship and Crucible seeding as the difference in prize money today was massive.
"Joe bossed the game against Shaun, every time I looked at the scoreboard it looked like he wasn't missing a ball. It will be an intriguing match and I'm looking forward to it."