Two wins separate the remaining four contenders from capturing the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters title in Riyadh this weekend.
The final four face off in Friday’s semi-finals to determine which pair will contest tomorrow’s final at the Green Halls.
Several marquee names exited the tournament early on, but there is no shortage of firepower left with a quartet of star names still vying for the £500,000 first prize.
Let’s take a brief look at both semi-final matches in the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Mark Williams vs Si Jiahui
Mark Williams began his week with a tricky 5-4 defeat of Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the last 32, but it has been much easier for the three-time world champion since.
After completing a 6-2 victory over Stuart Bingham, the Welshman duly thrashed Jimmy Robertson 6-0 in Thursday’s quarter-finals.
Williams, who finished off his last-eight win with a break of 133, remains on course to claim a 27th career ranking title and a second in 2024.
Next up for the 49 year-old is young Chinese talent Si Jiahui, who is bidding for his maiden trophy at this level.
Si impressively dispatched of pre-tournament favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan, ending the Rocket’s hopes in Riyadh with several frame-winning contributions.
With £100,000 in prize money already secured – matching the earnings he received for reaching the same stage of the 2023 World Championship – Si is guaranteed to join the top 16 in the world rankings for the first time.
The 22 year-old, who was a finalist in last season’s German Masters, beat Williams 10-9 at the Crucible Theatre in April.
The latter will likely start this contest as a slight favourite, but Si’s pedigree is constantly rising and his silverware breakthrough appears to be imminent.
Judd Trump vs Shaun Murphy
Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy clash in a repeat of their Shanghai Masters title-deciding meeting from July.
Trump dominated that occasion to lift the invitational crown in China, and the world number one will undoubtedly be the favourite again here.
The 35 year-old has been in ruthless form so far during the 2024/25 campaign, with his narrow loss to Kyren Wilson in the Xi’an Grand Prix final representing only a minor negative point.
Trump ended Neil Robertson’s aspirations on Thursday with a 6-3 triumph over the Australian, scoring a break of 100 in the third frame.
That means the Englishman is just three centuries shy of becoming only the second player in the sport’s history to reach the 1,000 centuries milestone.
Murphy has been in good form recently too, though, and will represent a difficult challenge in the penultimate round.
The Magician didn’t have his scoring boots on in the last round but still managed to orchestrate a 6-2 success over Xiao Guodong.
Murphy’s record against Trump isn’t great overall, but he has enjoyed moments of glory against his countryman in each of the Triple Crown events so is unlikely to shy away from the occasion.
Thursday’s Results (QF)
Mark Williams 6-0 Jimmy Robertson
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-6 Si Jiahui
Judd Trump 6-3 Neil Robertson
Shaun Murphy 6-2 Xiao Guodong
Friday’s Matches (SF)
12pm UTC+1
Judd Trump vs Shaun Murphy
6pm UTC+1
Mark Williams vs Si Jiahui
Click here to view the full draw, including updated results.
Featured photo credit: WST
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