O'Sullivan closes in on final spot
Ronnie O’Sullivan moved to within three frames of his third 888.com World Championship final after opening up a 14-6 lead against Stephen Hendry at the Crucible Theatre.
O’Sullivan shared the opening four frames of the evening session with seven-time world champion Hendry – but the damage had been done earlier in the day.
The Rocket had won all eight frames during the morning to inflict the first session whitewash on Hendry at Sheffield in his distinguished career.
Hendry had handed out similar punishment to Terry Griffiths (1992), Jimmy White (1992) and Danny Fowler (1993) but this time was on the receiving end.
O’Sullivan at one stage scored 448 points without reply and compiled two centuries and five other 50-plus breaks.
The record for the tournament – 485 points without reply by John Higgins against Anthony Hamilton in 2000 – looked under threat before a shell-shocked Hendry finally stopped the onslaught.
It was hard to believe that Hendry had led 4-1 at one stage given the way he was completely overwhelmed by O’Sullivan during a session that will live long in the memory.
O’Sullivan, who had defeated Hendry 17-4 in the 2004 semi-final, began the evening in the same vein.
Hendry elected not to take on a long red but let in O’Sullivan when he unsuccessfully tried to play safe and the Rocket made him pay dearly with a 126 - his third complete clearance of the match.
That made it 12 frames on the bounce for O’Sullivan but in the next Hendry ended that losing streak with an 85 after an excellent opening pot.
Hendry was first amongst the balls in the 19th frame with a 54 and, after O’Sullivan had missed a blue at pace, he cleared up sufficiently with a 46 to pull another one back.
But O’Sullivan crept nearer to the finishing line in the last frame before the interval with a run of 68.
Ali Carter dominated the second session of the other semi-final with Joe Perry to open up a 9-7 lead.
The 28-year-old recovered from a 5-3 overnight deficit by triumphing in six of the eight frames as Perry struggled to find his touch for lengthy periods.
But both players will have to up their game considerably if they are to prove a match for likely finalist O’Sullivan.
Carter, who had trailed 5-2 at one stage, reeled off six frames on the trot as the confidence drained out of his opponent.
He had breaks of 106 and 128 and four other 50-plus breaks before Perry finally found his touch with a 127 clearance in the penultimate frame.
