Barry Hawkins successfully managed to get sweet revenge on world champion Mark Williams after beating him to reach the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
The Englishman lost out to Williams in the World Championship semi-final four months ago despite being in front for most of the epic 33-frame contest.
Hawkins’ heartbreaking 17-15 loss denied him a place in what would have been his second World Championship final and another chance to lift the world title for the first time.
But it was Hawkins who was left smiling today after a 6-4 win put him two wins away from winning the major £200,000 top prize.
The match was not the prettiest by any stretch and saw only three breaks of 50+ made but Hawkins came through to progress into the semi-finals of the new invitational event.
Barry Hawkins. Picture by Monique Limbos
Hawkins, who has never won the Shanghai Masters before, will play China’s very own Ding Junhui on Saturday for a place in Sunday’s grand final.
Ding came out on top after a thrilling quarter-final encounter against world number one Mark Selby which went all the way to a deciding frame.
The Chinese number one dominated the start of the match but Selby managed to come back from 5-3 down to force a decider.
Ding had a slender lead and managed to produce a good safety which forced Selby to play an attacking long red.
The world number one missed it and left Ding with an easy chance to clear and win the match – in which he made no mistake.
Ding Junhui. Picture by Monique Limbos
Earlier in the day Ronnie O’Sullivan booked his place in the semi-finals with a comfortable 6-2 win over Stuart Bingham.
The defending champion on Friday will meet in-form star Kyren Wilson who made a stunning break of 135 to defeat Ryan Day in an eleven-frame thriller.
Wilson, who in recent weeks has won the Paul Hunter Classic and the Sangsom Six Red World Championship, is just two wins away from becoming the first player since John Higgins in 2001 to win three consecutive World Snooker tournaments.
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