English Open 2021 semi-finals LIVE - Ronnie O'Sullivan faces John Higgins and Neil Robertson takes on Mark King

ByEurosport

Updated 06/11/2021 at 23:23 GMT

The English Open is down to the final four. Ronnie O'Sullivan will look to continue his fine form in Milton Keynes as he goes up against John Higgins for a place in the final. In the other semi, Neil Robertson is up against Mark King who stunned reigning champion Judd Trump in the previous round. Stream the English Open live and on demand on discovery+

Robertson pokonał Akaniego w 2. rundzie English Open

Image credit: Eurosport

That's all from us

Thank you for your company throughout the semi-finals today. We'll be back with you from 12.45pm tomorrow for the final of the English Open between John Higgins and Neil Robertson.

Take care out there until then, night night.

English Open

Who does O'Sullivan face in English Open return as world champion?

02/11/2022 at 10:18

Neil Robertson is through to the English Open Final

Phew, that match was a battle. Both players were below par initially and at one point it looked like Mark King might be about to cause another upset when he led 4-2. Just when he needed it though, Robertson found his scoring touch. Breaks of 111, 101 and 84 were came around a crucial clearance on the colours to level up at 4-4. Last night we saw the break-building side of Robertson's game, tonight was a test of whether he could grind it out when under pressure and not playing well. It was a test that he passed, and he advances to face John Higgins in the final tomorrow.

Robertson 6-4 King

It's done. Frame ball black takes Robertson to 71, and he eventually signs off with an 84 to win this gritty battle by a couple of frames.

Robertson 5-4 King (56-0)

There's a brief lull as referee Jan Verhaas gets a pesky fly to shift from off the top of one of the reds. It's not stopping Robertson's momentum though, as a further split of the cluster leaves the frame at his mercy. The half-century is quickly wrapped up and this just looks a matter of time now...

Robertson 5-4 King (27-0)

King misses a long red at the start of the tenth, which sits up invitingly in line with the left middle for Robertson. There's been a definite momentum shift in this one, as Robertson takes it and is quickly into the pack to develop a frame-winning opportunity. It's 27 and counting so far, and King can only hope from here.

Robertson 5-4 King

He can! Robertson mops up what's left, including a brilliant yellow and then green, to register 101 and take the lead. He's won three in a row now, can King recover and take this to a decider?

Robertson 4-4 King (67-28)

The half-century is on the board, and frame ball black soon follows. Robertson then picks off the final red to make certain, can he choke down the colours to make another century here?

Robertson 4-4 King (37-28)

Robertson looks on as a slow-rolled red to the bottom left needs all of the pocket and a brief pause before it drops in, drawing gasps from the crowd in the Marshall Arena. He looks in control here though, and takes his break to 37 by stunning in a red and splitting the remaining cluster of four. If he can hold it together here, he should be one up with two to play.

Robertson 4-4 King (0-28)

King cuts in a red at the start of the ninth but can't get on a colour, as this war of attrition in what is now a best of three continues. After a run of safety shots he then snags another red into the right middle, and he quickly gets a break up and running. There are still four open reds to go at here, and it's a chance. He slowly runs out of position though and it culminates in him missing a difficult red to the right middle, and he's left Robertson in.

Robertson 4-4 King

Another poor safety from Robertson leaves King a look at a red into the green pocket. He converts it, but is left with a difficult blue thereafter and misses it by a long way. King's game seems to have come apart in the last few frames, and Robertson dishes up to the pink to draw level.

Robertson 3-4 King (39-24)

Robertson fails to avoid the yellow when going in and out of baulk for his next red, and it's end of break on 35. His safety is poor too, and he's served up a chance to King. It looks like a chance to dish, but King can only make 20 after running out of position on the last red and opting to play safe instead of taking on the thin cut. These are a huge seven balls coming up in the context of this match.

Robertson 3-4 King (24-4)

Two more solitary reds are dispatched by Robertson without colours, before King excuses himself and pops out to the loo. This is Jackson Pollack snooker, because there are balls splattered all over the place. Robertson finally gets in, playing one red onto another that was over the bottom right, and the blue that follows gives us a whiff of a break in the offing. He's put 20 up already, though it's hard work with the black in baulk and the pink out of commission.

Robertson 3-4 King (2-4)

Both players miss reds at the start of the eighth frame, but Robertson leaves his over the left middle and King is in. It's a decent look, but King can only pot red-green before missing a red to the bottom left. It's another scrappy start to a frame, and Robertson soon flukes a red into the left middle off two cushions when trying to put it safe. He then gets a red down that he meant to, only to miss the blue when trying to force the white around the angles. Bless this mess!

Robertson 3-4 King

He's still behind, but that should do Robertson the power of good. A 111 cuts King's lead to one frame.

Robertson 2-4 King (67-4)

Here he is. The break-building machine that pipped Kyren Wilson to the post yesterday seems to have arrived in the match at last. His break goes to 63, and he looks nailed on to convert this into a one-hit win and maybe even a ton.

Robertson 2-4 King (19-4)

It's really not happening for Robertson tonight. He picks up four from a foul by King, though gives them straight back when he misses a long red by a huge margin and goes in-off in the right middle. Robertson eventually jams in a red to the yellow pocket just as another scrappy frame threatened to materialise, and he begins to stitch a meaningful break together.

Robertson 2-4 King

Robertson does land a snooker behind the black, but King swerves the cue ball out off one cushion and escapes. Several more valiant efforts from Robertson follow, before King eventually slow rolls the pink into the yellow pocket. His highest break tonight is just 44, but King could be on the brink of another upset here.

Robertson 2-3 King (47-66)

Robertson misses a long red to the bottom right, and he's left King in among the reds. This is another excellent chance, and if he's going to win this match he surely needs to convert it. King duly does, picking off frame ball pink but again he misses his insurance ball and the final red stays out of the bottom left. Robertson picks off a red-black and then dishes up to the blue; if he can draw a foul from a snooker on the pink then he can tie.

Robertson 2-3 King (25-32)

This could be a big miss; in trying to thin cut a red below the pink into the bottom right, King catches another red first and the pot misses by a long way. That leaves a chance for Robertson, who needs a double to keep going early in his break and gambles on opening the pack early. He's really trying to get himself going in this scrappy match, and he's struggling; he misses a yellow to its own pocket, and it's end of break on 25.

Robertson 2-3 King (0-19)

Robertson misses two difficult reds up the table from behind the black spot, and from the second of them leaves King plum on a red to right middle. In co-comms, Fouldsy thinks this is a huge visit and you can see why; it's an inviting table, and there's a road map to a two frame lead here.

Robertson 2-3 King

King eventually gets in and plugs a long green into its own pocket, followed by brown and blue. Robertson plays on, needing one snooker on the pink, and this frame is now over 30 minutes and counting. Eventually King doubles the pink into the bottom right, and he's taken the lead.

Robertson 2-2 King (36-40)

Robertson gets a red down but it precipitates a tense battle on the final red, before Robertson coughs up a chance and leaves it on to the right middle. Again it's an incremental break from King, who registers just five points, We've got five baulk colours left, green to black, and this has become a huge frame.

Robertson 2-2 King (35-25)

King gets in with a thin cut on a red to bottom right, and cobbles together 11 using the baulk colours before missing a red and leaving it in the jaws of the bottom right. Robertson plugs it, but then tries to force the pink into the green pocket and misses it. This one is an absolute mess, we've got two reds left on the table.

Robertson 2-2 King (35-14)

King responds with a red to the bottom left, and makes four before missing the blue horribly to the left middle. Robertson gets a red down, and picks up four from a foul, but it's a horrible table and we could be here for a little while.

Robertson 2-2 King (26-10)

We're back and King's away first, dragging a red into the bottom right to land on the blue. It's a great chance, but he misses a simple red to the bottom left soon after to serve up a great chance for Robertson. A few shots into his break Robertson pots a red and clears two others away from the black at the same time, but he can only make 26 before failing to land conveniently on a red to the bottom right.

Robertson 2-2 King

King closes it out with a further 13 points, and we're all square at the interval. We'll be back in 15 minutes.

Robertson 2-1 King (16-65)

Can Robertson hit back here? He's got an easy starter and there's 75 left on. The easy starter is gobbled up but he can't fashion good position from it, so plays safe. He's now 64 behind with 67 on. King then has an open look at a gimme red to finish it, but inexplicably rattles it out of the bottom right jaws. Robertson still has a real shot at this, and takes red-black-red-blue-red before missing a tough cut on the black to the bottom right. King's on a red, and surely this is done.

Robertson 2-1 King (0-65)

Well, if it isn't Paul Newman! Trapped in a tough snooker in baulk, King swerves around the pink to deposit a red into the bottom right which gets an appreciative whoop from the crowd. It also might have chucked King the frame on a plate; there's a few on, and King's piled on another 44 already. Red-colour will do it, but he misses a thin red to the bottom right and it's end of break.

Robertson 2-1 King (0-21)

King fires straight back in the fourth, draining an excellent long red to land perfectly on the black thereafter. The break soon gets tricky though, as a thin red to the bottom left sees him overrun position on the brown. He makes the pot, but loses position completely on his next red and it's end of break.

Robertson 2-1 King

Frame ball black soon takes Robertson to 74, and we're done in the third. He looks like he's really kicking into gear here, and another half-ton of 52 puts him in the lead for the first time tonight.

Robertson 1-1 King (51-0)

A whiff of a reprieve here for King, as Robertson's attempt to split the pack only leaves a difficult cut on a red to bottom right. Robertson weighs it up and eventually turns it down, opting to play safe and end his break on 51. King tries a two cushion escape to rest on the pack, but he's left a red on to the left middle and Robertson's in again.

Robertson 1-1 King (23-0)

Robertson glides in a long red at the start of the third to land perfectly on the black. This looks a good chance already, with black and pink on to both corners, and he's not hanging about in taking it. His break is at 23 and counting.

Robertson 1-1 King

King gets one of the three snookers he needs, but after trading four-pointers with Robertson he decides to turn it in and we're all square.

Robertson 0-1 King (69-22)

King drains a double, but leaves the subsequent black hanging agonisingly in the jaws of the bottom left to gift a chance to Robertson. All of a sudden the Thunder is motoring, clearing 50 for the frame and then cruising past the winning line when his break reaches 38. A black follows, but Robertson misses a double and with 51 still on the table King is playing on. He takes two reds with backs and tucks the final red behind the pink.

Robertson 0-1 King (24-6)

King is in ebullient mood, joking with the crowd when he fails to split the reds after potting a blue following his opening red in the second frame. He looks relaxed and confident tonight, and so you should be after beating Stephen Maguire and Judd Trump in one week. Robertson gets in soon after though, opening the pack with a confident red to right middle to land on the black. He makes 24 before rolling a red out off the knuckles of the left middle.

Robertson 0-1 King

Robertson takes three reds with blacks, and we're into a safety battle on the final two reds. It ends when King lands an outrageous fluke on one of the reds, and then tucks Robertson in behind the blue. Robertson has seen enough and concedes.

Robertson 0-0 King (0-66)

There's a big chance here for King, after Robertson risks opening the pack from a safety below the black and leaves a red on to the right middle. King drops it in, and it looks harder to miss from here. Just as he approaches the winning line though he misses frame ball black, and he's 66 ahead with 67 on. Three of the reds are in the top half of the table; can Robertson either pull this off or force a re-spotted black?

Robertson 0-0 King (0-36)

King gets away first with a red to the left middle, bit his break is nixed on 22 as he fails to convert a plant on a red to the bottom left. Robertson soon leaves him another look though, red to bottom left, and King picks it off to land perfectly on the black. It's a confident start from him, and there's a lot to go at here. He makes a hash of a positional shot though, and another promising opportunity is curtailed early.

Boys baized

They're out, they're on the baize and ready to go. Best of 11 then to face John Higgins tomorrow.

The skinny

Robertson emerged victorious in a high quality match against Kyren Wilson in the quarters yesterday, while Mark King shook up the world by eliminating defending champion Judd Trump. In matches between the two, Robertson has a record of five wins and no defeats; the two were drawn to play against each other in the Welsh Open earlier this year, but Robertson withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons.

Good evening!

We go again as they say in the sports. Now we've all recovered from the denouement of the match between John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan, it's time to find out who'll be facing the Wizard of Wishaw in tomorrow's final.

Follow that, Neil Robertson and Mark King. They'll do exactly that in about 15 minutes.

---

Let's all have a breather shall we?

Thanks for your company this afternoon, we'll be back from 6.45pm with the second semi-final between Neil Robertson and Mark King.

Get ready for a brand new and exciting addition to the sporting calendar as we launch the UCI Track Champions League on Saturday. It'll be fast, furious and lots of fun - coverage starts on discovery+ and Eurosport 1 at 17:40 UK time!

All you need to know about the UCI Track Champions League is here

John Higgins is through to the English Open Final

'I just fell over the line there,' says Higgins in the studio. I know what he means, but in the wider context he came back from 5-3 down to win this with a stunning show of moxie that should surprise absolutely no one that's seen him play in the last 29 years. What a player, but more than that, what a rivalry; this is snooker's Frazier-Ali, its Borg-McEnroe. What we've seen this afternoon will sit alongside the most memorable matches we've ever seen between these two and believe me, that is a packed canon of classics. Commiserations to Ronnie O'Sullivan, who more than played his part today and had a brutal run of the balls in the decider. I'd imagine that tip that's been bothering him will be roadside near a roundabout in Milton Keynes within the hour.

O'Sullivan 5-6 Higgins

Higgins pots green and brown, and O'Sullivan immediately concedes. Both players share a warm moment of laughter together, after an incredible deciding frame. What a match!

O'Sullivan 5-5 Higgins (41-56)

Higgins has missed a routine green off its spot!!! This is staggering, he only needed that and the brown! He's not left it though, but O'Sullivan puts him in a brutal snooker behind the brown. Higgins thrashes a hit and hope escape, and flukes a snooker in return! Both players are laughing incredulously at this. O'Sullivan escapes the snooker, but he's left the green on. This is it.

O'Sullivan 5-5 Higgins (41-49)

Oh. My. Word. Higgins tries an audacious length of the table double to the yellow pocket, misses, and O'Sullivan tags in the loose red. He's not nicely on the black though, and opts to roll up to it and play safe; amazingly, he hits it too hard and it goes into the bottom right! He's snookered on the final red! Crikey. Said red is up in baulk, and O'Sullvan hits it at the second attempt, but Higgins is in charge. Higgins then flukes a snooker in trying to pot the final red, and in getting out of it O'Sullivan almost pots the red in the left middle! Whatever next! Higgins is on the final red to left middle though, and can finish it here...

O'Sullivan 5-5 Higgins (33-44)

Even by their standards, this is dramatic.Higgins gets a thumping kick after potting the third last red, which denies him the chance of splitting the two remaining reds off the blue. He settles for nixing his break at 12 and playing safe. O'Sullivan has three pops at a shot to nothing, but can't force either into the pocket. The safety element of each is superb though, and Higgins is not getting a sniff of a chance. This is absorbing stuff.

O'Sullivan 5-5 Higgins (33-33)

Shall we up the tension a bit? Yes, let's do that. Higgins drains a superb long red, but the cue ball flicks off another and drifts agonisingly into the left middle pocket! Oh my. O'Sullivan responds with a long red from the D, and it's a chance. The two reds on the right rail are the key to this frame now, but the advantage shifts back to Higgins as O'Sullivan misses a difficult mid-range red to the bottom left! Higgins responds by dropping in a red with the rest; the match is completely even and, for the moment, in the hands of the Wizard.

O'Sullivan 5-5 Higgins (20-32)

Higgins hits the front in this frame, with a cluster of four reds below the pink in need of attention if he's to do this in one hit. He plays into them, and the split is good enough; Higgins has just gone favourite in this frame, only to miss the very next red to the bottom left! Fortunately for him, he's not left one, but that's a shocking miss by his lofty standards. This is right in the balance.

O'Sullivan 5-5 Higgins (20-0)

My days, what a shot this is! Forced into potting his way out of bother from a Higgins safety, O'Sullivan drains a long red to the bottom left and comes off the bottom cushion to land on the blue. It's a decent early look, and he's cleared the path for the black to both corner. The tension in the Marshall Arena is off the map. O'Sullivan doesn't cash this chance in though as he overcuts a black into the bottom right and leaves it in the jaws! Over to you, John.

O'Sullivan 5-5 Higgins

You boys, you boys. For the eleventh time in their glittering careers, these two acknowledge each other ahead of a final frame decider. eyes down then, let's see how it falls.

Find out all you need to know about the UCI Track Champions League here

O'Sullivan 5-5 Higgins

John Higgins, ladies and gentlemen.

O'Sullivan 5-4 Higgins (47-29)

O'Sullivan picks off one of the difficult reds in the bottom half of the table, and takes his break to 41 with the pink, moving the final red away from the upper right rail as he does so. It's on, but it's thin along the top cushion...and he's rattled it out of the yellow pocket! Higgins is just about on it instead, and he drops it in to land on the blue! Can he dish and force a decider here? He needs up to and including the pink.

O'Sullivan 5-4 Higgins (13-29)

A loose safety from O'Sullivan leaves Higgins a look at a long red to the bottom right. He drains it, followed by the brown and another red, but then misses a tough brown to leave O'Sullivan in. It's a chance, and O'Sullivan hardly lacks for bottle either; he stuns a red into the bottom right, opening the pack as he does so, and he's away. Two reds are in difficult positions near the right rail, but he can take charge here in the tenth.

O'Sullivan 5-4 Higgins (6-23)

While O'Sullivan gets to work on his cue tip with sandpaper, Higgins gets to work on the baize. It's hard work though as the table is awkward, and after failing to split the pack sufficiently off the yellow Higgins plays safe to baulk.

O'Sullivan 5-4 Higgins (6-4)

Higgins leaves O'Sullivan a long tempter to the bottom right at the start of the tenth, but it doesn't go; that leaves Higgins a much harder long red, across the table and into the bottom left, and he's dunked it. The green follows, before Higgins makes a hash of trying to pot a tight red beneath the pack and hit's another red as he does so, throwing everything off line. That's left O'Sullivan in, and Higgins sat down and hoping. Pretty soon, he's on his feet; O'Sullivan's missed a red to the bottom left, and grimaces at his cue again.

O'Sullivan 5-4 Higgins

A 63 from Higgins does the necessary. Can O'Sullivan put it to bed in the next frame, or will Higgins set up the 11th final frame decider between these two legends of the baize?

O'Sullivan 5-3 Higgins (9-49)

Here he comes. Higgins picks off 40 like he's strolling around a club table and not staring into the abyss against The Rocket. It's been said before, but the man has some moxie. There's a load left on too, and we're going 5-4 here.

O'Sullivan 5-3 Higgins (9-10)

What we need to remember here is that, while John Higgins has no margin for error and needs all three remaining frames, he is John Higgins. A fearless opening red, deadweight to land on the black, starts him off in the ninth. It goes awry on nine though as he overcuts a black with the rest and it doesn't drop into the bottom right; O'Sullivan's in, but only makes nine himself before overcutting a black into the opposite pocket and missing it. He's not left anything though, or so we thought - Higgins sensationally doubles a red into the bottom right to regain control!

O'Sullivan 5-3 Higgins

There goes the frame as a black takes O'Sullivan to 74. That soon becomes a ton as O'Sullivan, nonchalantly switching to left-handed to pick off a brown, makes 103 before missing the final red. If he can win one more frame he'll be in the final tomorrow.

O'Sullivan 4-3 Higgins (50-0)

Another tickle of the pack has blown this one wide open for O'Sullivan, who racks up a half-century in rapid time. A frame-winning dish looks the minimum possible now.

O'Sullivan 4-3 Higgins (23-0)

A poor safety from O'Sullivan leaves a red on to the left middle. Higgins can't cut it in though, and in turn leaves O'Sullivan on a red to the bottom right. It's getting tense now, and the crowd are right into this. O'Sullivan soon opens the reds after potting the pink, which leaves him on a tricky red to the right middle. He makes it though, and he's on the blue.

O'Sullivan 4-3 Higgins

O'Sullivan will be kicking himself for that safety error, as Higgins dispatches frame ball red to take his break to 61. A total of 76 is enough to bank this frame and reduce his deficit to one frame.

O'Sullivan 4-2 Higgins (9-37)

Now then; O'Sullivan makes a hash of trying to tuck the white tight behind the black, freeing it from a nearby red and leaving the red on to boot. What a chance this is now, and Higgins is filling his boots with reds and blacks here.

O'Sullivan 4-2 Higgins (9-1)

We're back, and apparently the racket was from some faulty air con somewhere in the Marshall Arena. O'Sullivan drops a red in to the right middle, then tucks Higgins in behind the brown in baulk. It's a brutal snooker, and Higgins escapes but leaves a red on. Amazingly, O'Sullivan misses it when trying to force the black free. All it's left for Higgins however is a mess of a table.

O'Sullivan 4-2 Higgins (8-1)

Higgins gets a look at a long red over the bottom left, but he can't roll it in. This is a huge point in the match but there's some kind of hubbub backstage, which is distracting O'Sullivan enough to complain to referee Leo Scullion. Both players leave the arena temporarily, and there's some suggestion that the hum of the crowd from a nearby football match at Arena MK between MK Dons and Stevenage is to blame.

O'Sullivan 4-2 Higgins (8-1)

This could have been big. Higgins drains an excellent long red into the bottom right and comes across the table for the black, but in trying to cut it in he's left it hanging in the jaws of the bottom right! O'Sullivan pots a red and then tries to open the pack off the black, but catches the side of them and ends up marooned in baulk. That's a reprieve for Higgins, because any kind of decent split there could have meant 5-2.

Get up to speed on how the UCI Track Champions League works here

O'Sullivan 4-2 Higgins

Oh that we could all struggle with out cue tips like this. O'Sullivan makes 108 and is two frames away from the final.

O'Sullivan 3-2 Higgins (65-0)

The pink brings up O'Sullivan's half-century, but he's lost position on his next red. He's annoyed with himself, but calms down and recovers position with a superb thin red to the bottom left. The pink follows, and he's going to have a two-frame lead shortly.

O'Sullivan 3-2 Higgins (34-0)

From baulk O'Sullivan plays a potentially frame-winning shot, powering in a long red to the bottom right and screwing back slightly to land on pink to left middle. The pink goes and is relocated to the black spot for now, which opens the frame right up for O'Sullivan. It's 29 and counting in this break so far.

O'Sullivan 3-2 Higgins (5-0)

A protracted safety exchange at the start of the sixth finally ends when Higgins shorts one and O'Sullivan gobbles up a mid-range red to the bottom right. A wafer thin green follows, but only one more red as the pink and black are tied up and O'Sullivan can't free the latter.

O'Sullivan 3-2 Higgins

They don't all go, as O'Sullivan misses the black and then looks down in frustration at his cue tip once more. Nevertheless, a break of 69 is more than enough to win the frame.

O'Sullivan 2-2 Higgins (57-1)

O'Sullivan makes a plant to the bottom left to keep his break going, and this table is him in his element. All remaining reds are free of each other, and near the pink and black which are both on. These might all go here.

O'Sullivan 2-2 Higgins (21-1)

We're underway again in the Marshall Arena, and Higgins gets a red down but then inadvertently sends a red down after opening the pack off the blue. That's five and perfect position to O'Sullivan, who is quickly about his work with the reds around the black spot.

The UCI Track Champions League - all you need to know

O'Sullivan 2-2 Higgins

It's a round half-ton for O'Sullivan, and you can't split these two so far. We'll be back in 15 minutes for the denouement.

O'Sullivan 1-2 Higgins (56-7)

Higgins leaves O'Sullivan a tempter, mid-range down the right of the table. O'Sullivan drills it into the heart of the bottom right, and comes back around for the blue. He quickly stitches together 38, but leaves a difficult cut to the bottom left on frame ball red. No matter; O'Sullivan drops it in, and we're going to be all square at the interval.

O'Sullivan 1-2 Higgins (17-7)

O'Sullivan gets a look at a thin red to the bottom right, which he converts but goes in-off in the yellow pocket. Higgins picks out a plant in the pack from the D thereafter, but can't land on a colour. O'Sullivan seems to have gone off the boil in the last 20 minutes, and is looking annoyed with his tip again. This one's gone a bit scrappy.

O'Sullivan 1-2 Higgins (17-2)

Higgins picks out a plant at the start of the fourth, before tucking O'Sulilivan in right behind the yellow. He then gets another red down with a cross-double into the right middle played as a shot to nothing, but fails to drop the yellow in the same pocket and that's left O'Sullivan in. He rides his luck early in the break, before rolling a red out off the knuckles of the right middle to end his break on 17. Fortunately, he's not left anything.

O'Sullivan 1-2 Higgins

A total of 54 puts Higgins one frame ahead.

O'Sullivan 1-1 Higgins (4-70)

O'Sullivan catches the green full ball with a safety, which leaves on a red to the bottom left. Higgins mops it up, and a swift 33 is enough to leave O'Sullivan needing snookers. There's much more coming, and Higgins is going to take the lead shortly.

O'Sullivan 1-1 Higgins (4-37)

Higgins almost underhits a blue into the right middle, which needs all the pocket and a belated nudge from gravity to drop in. Shades of his legendary clearance against O'Sullivan in the 2006 Masters final there! He's lost control of this though after snookering himself on the black, and it's end of break on 37.

O'Sullivan 1-1 Higgins (4-16)

Higgins misses a thin contact safety, which gives away four and more importantly a look at a mid-ranger for O'Sullivan to the bottom right. He can't put it away though, which gifts another great chance to Higgins.

O'Sullivan 1-1 Higgins

A black takes Higgins to 72, and he's over the line in this one. There's soon a ton on as well, particularly after Higgins drops the final red into the left middle with a thin cut to land on the black. The brown is difficult along the top cushion, but Higgins calmly rolls it in and makes 104 to pull level.

O'Sullivan 1-0 Higgins (24-40)

O'Sullivan punished a Higgins miss in the first, and Higgins is responding in kind here. He's fashioned 40 already and his just affected a perfect split on the reds; 1-1 looks nailed on here.

O'Sullivan 1-0 Higgins (24-1)

With no safety on Higgins is forced into a long red to the bottom left early in the second, but can't jam it in the pocket. He's left O'Sullivan in too, who wastes no time in taking advantage. That tip doesn't look to be bothering him so far, his touch has been exquisite in these opening exchanges. Yet just as I write that he misses a cutback on a red to bottom left and his break ends abruptly on 24. In response, Higgins stabs a long red slowly into the yellow pocket, and he's on the black.

O'Sullivan 1-0 Higgins

O'Sullivan opens them up enough, and with a rhythmic monotony drops in 75 before missing a double on the final red. Higgins has seen enough in this one and concedes.

O'Sullivan 0-0 Higgins (40-24)

It's five reds and blacks so far for O'Sullivan, who forces a red out of the pack and over the left middle to keep this effort going. One more accurate nudge into what's left of the pack will really open this up for him.

O'Sullivan 0-0 Higgins (0-24)

Higgins's first shot is a superb long red into the bottom left, but he can't convert a difficult black thereafter. He picks up eight after O'Sullivan shorts an attempt to drop on the pack and then misses a thin snick on a safety soon after, and then gets in with a red to right middle that sees the white go around the table to land on the black. This is a good chance, but only 15 comes from it as he misses a cushion-first attempt at a red to the bottom left and O'Sullivan is in.

Baizing time

Here come the players. Both had their battles yesterday, Higgins in fending off a late comeback fron Yan Bingtao and O'Sullivan with his ongoing issues with the tip of his cue. Here they both are though for one more dance; it's best of 11 for a place in tomorrow's final.

The UCI Track Champions League - all you need to know

Legends Only

This needs very little bigging up but we’re contractually obliged to do it, so here goes. Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins have a combined 10 world championships and 29 Triple Crown titles between them, and a whopping 68 ranking event wins. These Class of 92 alumni are two of the three greatest players ever to put a hand on the baize and have gone nose to nose in some of the best matches we’ve ever seen.

It’s been nip and tuck, with Higgins currently holding the advantage 28-27 in overall victories. While there’s been the odd blowout, it’s usually close; ten of their matches have gone to a decider. Quite simply, it does not get any better than this. Load up with snacks and get comfy.

Good afternoon!

Welcome to live coverage of the semi-finals of the 2021 English Open from the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

We’re in a one table situation and have a couple of crackers for you today. In the post for this evening is Neil Robertson versus Mark King. Robertson played superbly last night to dispatch Kyren Wilson, while King produced the upset of the season so far to knock out Judd Trump in their quarter-final.

But you don’t have to don your evening wear just yet. Brew up, carry on lounging around in your pyjamas and settle in for our first semi-final, which is between two blokes you may have heard of.

---

'Like trying to win a marathon with a pair of heavy boots on'

Ronnie O’Sullivan is hoping continued problems with his tip do not take a mental toll in the later stages of the English Open.

The six-time world champion has been wrestling with a problematic tip in Milton Keynes this week.

However, he has produced a series of impressive performances to reach the semi-finals, which he puts down to playing some of his best snooker.

He overwhelmed Luca Brecel 5-1 in the quarter-finals, and is unsure whether he will be able to sustain the excellence to overcome the problems with his tip.

“It is a challenge,” he told Eurosport. “It is like trying to win a marathon with a pair of heavy boots on. Let’s give it a go. It’s a test, I love a challenge.”