LIANG Wenbo answered to the critics who labelled him ‘boring’ yesterday after he produced some thrilling snooker to secure a place in the UK Championship semi-finals.

Liang Wenbo. Picture by Monique Limbos

The Chinese number two was called the ‘b’ word by Tom Ford after Wenbo came back from behind to beat him on Thursday to reach the quarter finals.

Ford, who lost 6-5 to Wenbo after letting a 5-3 lead slip, said: “He’s the most boring player I’ve played this season. I don’t mind being played off the table, but not bored off it.”

It is not clear whether Ford’s words were the main catalyst for Wenbo’s  phenomenal start to his quarter-final clash against Marco Fu but what is for certain is his display was no where near ‘boring’.

Wenbo, who has had to make stunning comebacks in his previous matches against Ford and before that Judd Trump, this time was the front runner as breaks of 106, 132 and 138 stormed him into a 3-0 lead.

He was at it again in the fourth frame but was punished for breaking down on 49 as Fu cleared the table with a run of 64 to reduce his arrears to 3-1.

Wenbo extended his lead to 5-2 after the mid-session interval but Fu fought back winning the next three frames to force a final frame decider.

But Fu was unable to complete a stunning comeback after a safety error on the penultimate red left Wenbo with the golden opportunity to clinch the match 6-5.