Switzerland potter Alexander Ursenbacher continued his magnificent run in the English Open tonight as he progressed to the semi-finals in emphatic style.

Alexander Ursenbacher. Picture: World Snooker

In his first season back as a professional after previously dropping from the main tour, Ursenbacher reached his first ranking semi-final after thrashing Michael White 5-0 in Barnsley.

It comes after he impressed just 24 hours earlier on Thursday night with an emphatic 4-1 win over former world champion and current world number five Shaun Murphy.

Ranked 91 in the world, his world ranking and status in the game will certainly be cranked up following his fantastic run this week – which is by no means over yet. On Saturday afternoon he will bid to reach the grand final when he takes on Kyren Wilson.

Breaks of 55, 84, 51 and 93 helped the 21-year-old to a huge 4-0 lead at the interval against White who earlier this season won the Paul Hunter Classic.

And Ursenbacher made sure there was no sign of any comeback after the restart by winning the fifth frame in fairly comfortable fashion.

Earlier in the day, Wilson reached the semi-finals after overcoming a hard-fought 5-3 win over Iranian Hossein Vafaei.

Kyren Wilson. Picture by Monique Limbos

Wilson looked like going 3-1 to the good early on until Vafaei pulled off an incredible fightback to win frame four from 68 points behind.

But Wilson did not let the disappointment get to him as he went on to win three of the next four frames to seal his seventh major ranking semi-final appearance.