Rocket marches into European Masters semi-finals

Ronnie O'Sullivan moved into the semi-finals of the BetVictor European Masters with a 5-1 victory over Tom Ford in Milton Keynes.

The six-time world champion opened with a break of 136, then added a 90 before coming from behind in each of the next two frames to go 4-0 ahead as Ford failed to make the most of opportunities.

And after Ford subsequently got off the mark by claiming the fifth, O’Sullivan wrapped up the win with another century break, this time 109.

His opponent in the last four will be China’s Liang Wenbo, who edged Scotland’s Anthony McGill 5-4.

Earlier on Friday, Liang’s compatriot Fan Zhengyi reached the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time as he saw off David Gilbert 5-3.

The 21-year-old will now face Graeme Dott after the Scot beat Welshman Ryan Day 5-4.

Fan, who had led 4-0 against Gilbert, said in quotes on World Snooker’s official website: "For the first four frames I wasn’t thinking about the match, I was just playing well.

"Then after the interval I started thinking, and I got nervous and needed a lot of chances. But overall I really enjoyed the game and I’m looking forward to tomorrow."