Ali Carter reached his first ranking event semi-final for more than two years as he thumped John Higgins 5-0 in the World Open on Friday.
The Englishman took advantage of an out-of-sorts Higgins to comfortably outplay the Scot with runs of 101, 98 and 51 and reach the last four of a full ranking event for the first time since the 2014 China Open.
Carter has suffered with illness over the last number of years and still battles his ever-present Crohn’s disease, but is clearly still capable of competing with elite.
The ‘Captain’ will take on Thepchaiya Un-Nooh for a place in the final after the Thai took out Indian Open champion Anthony McGill 5-2.
31 year-old Un-Nooh caused a more serious upset earlier in the week when he defeated world champion and world no.1 Mark Selby but hasn’t shown any signs of letting up since as he dispatched of two Scots in simple fashion – first Alan McManus before his fellow Glaswegian McGill in timely fashion.
This is Un-Nooh’s third last four appearance in a major semi-final as he attempts to become the first Thai ranking event finalist since his famous compatriot James Wattana won the Thailand Open more than twenty years ago in 1995.
On the other side of the draw there was another pair of 5-2 scorelines as close mates Neil Robertson and Joe Perry set up a duel between each other.
Riga Masters champion Robertson wasn’t at his free-scoring best but still had enough to oust David Gilbert while Perry won five frames on the trot to take out the defending champion as well.
