The 2025 International Championship semi-finals in Nanjing have thrown up a couple of fascinating clashes, with a spot in Sunday’s final on the line.
In Friday’s opening last-four bout, there is an all-Chinese battle between world champion Zhao Xintong and a young star hoping to make his big breakthrough in Wu Yize.
Following that on Saturday is a heavyweight encounter between two Scottish warhorses of the game, John Higgins and Stephen Maguire.
Let’s take a look at both of the upcoming International Championship semi-finals.
Zhao Xintong vs Wu Yize
With the format increasing to the best of 17 frames to be played across two sessions, the two ties from the penultimate round each take centre stage and require one full day apiece.
First up on Friday is the contest between two of the brightest talents that China currently has to offer at the moment.
Zhao Xintong has reached this stage of a ranking event for the first time since his triumph at the Crucible in the spring, helped by a dramatic comeback defeat of Mark Selby in the last round.
Wu Yize, meanwhile, has been in inspirational form since returning from the mid-session interval of his round-of-16 fixture with Judd Trump 4-0 behind.
From then on, the 22 year-old has produced a relentless streak of power scoring, winning his next 12 frames in the competition with 12 breaks of 62 or above.
Zhao and Wu have faced off only once before on the main tour, back in 2023 when the former won 5-3 in a qualifying match for the German Masters.
Wu’s tenure as professional was only in its infancy then, but he has rapidly rising ever since and has already featured in a brace of ranking event finals.
If he sustains his form while in among the balls, he will be tough to beat, but Zhao will be equally keen on bagging his first piece of silverware as a proven world champion.
John Higgins vs Stephen Maguire
On Saturday then, there is a mouthwatering affair between two of the greatest players that Scotland has ever produced.
John Higgins and Stephen Maguire once teamed up to orchestrate glory at the World Cup team event, but they’ll very much be rivals again here.
By guaranteeing himself £33,000 in prize money for reaching the International Championship semi-finals, Maguire has already matched the amount he pocketed for winning the season-opening Championship League Snooker ranking tournament.
It is turning into a promising spell for the former UK champion, who will be looking now at the prospect of qualifying for events on the Players Series through the one-year rankings later in the campaign.
Maguire’s primary concern, of course, is outlasting a familiar foe in Higgins as he pursues another appearance in a ranking final.
Higgins took down Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals on Thursday, a confidence-boosting victory against a player who has boasted a lot of recent form.
The Wizard of Wishaw will have watched Mark Williams claim the last title on Chinese soil as a 50 year-old thinking that he’d like a bit of that action too.
The head-to-head between Higgins and Maguire couldn’t be much tighter, with the former edging it 14-13 from their prior matches in all competitions.
Surprisingly, this is their first meeting since 2019.
2025 International Championship Semi-Finals
John Higgins vs Stephen Maguire
Saturday, 6am and 11:30am UTC (GMT)
Wu Yize vs Zhao Xintong
Friday, 6am and 11:30am UTC (GMT)
Featured photo credit: WST
