Scottish Open snooker 2020: Ronnie O'Sullivan ousts Ding Junhui again to reach semi-finals

Updated 11/12/2020 at 23:41 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan was out of sorts but victorious against his rival Ding Junhui as he recorded a 5-4 victory to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Open in Milton Keynes. It was the third quarter-final of the day that went to a deciding frame, and he can look forward to a meeting with Li Hang, who defeated Judd Trump earlier on Friday.

Ronnie O'Sullivan - Scottish Open

Image credit: Eurosport

Ronnie O'Sullivan continued his fantastic head-to-head record against Ding Junhui, beating his rival 5-4 to reach the Scottish Open semi-finals.

The Rocket faces Li Hang, the conqueror of world number one Judd Trump in the last four and could face a potential final against Mark Selby, following their thrilling World Championship semi-final in August.

The first frame was a cagey affair, with neither player managing to put together a big break. Ding won a lengthy battle for the blue but O'Sullivan pulled out a fine pink into the corner pocket before potting the black to steal the frame.

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The second was altogether more straightforward, with Ding rattling off a total clearance of 135 to draw level.

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O'Sullivan pulled ahead once more, taking advantage of a costly miss on a corner red from Ding to fire off a break of 60, which proved to be an insurmountable margin for the world number nine.

After a Ding miss on the blue, O'Sullivan had a chance to rattle through the fourth frame, but he missed a black and his rival cut the arrears to one.

And Ding had a chance to draw level but a costly miss, coupled with a fantastic long red, gave Ronnie the chance to record a break of 69 and move one frame away from victory.

Ding and O'Sullivan spent much of the seventh frame trading snookers before the former put together a good break to reduce the deficit to one. He then rattled off a century to ensure the third quarter-final of the day went the distance.

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The Rocket went through the gears at the start of the decider but was left frustrated when a red came off both sides of the pocket. It did not cost him, and when Ding could not get out of a snooker, he conceded.

In the other quarter-final played on Friday evening, Jamie Jones' fine run continued with a shock win over Kyren Wilson. He will face Mark Selby in the other semi-final on Saturday.