O'Sullivan blasts into semis

Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the semi-finals of the Embassy World Championship after completing a 13-6 victory over Peter Ebdon …

Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the semi-finals of the Embassy World Championship after completing a 13-6 victory over Peter Ebdon today.

A break of 55 helped 'The Rocket' gain the one frame he needed from today's session after he had whitewashed Ebdon last night to take a 12-4 lead.

"I've got the utmost respect for Ronnie," said Ebdon afterwards. "The snooker he produced last night was nothing short of sensational.

"Ronnie is very special. He's a genius - snooker's equivalent of Mozart."

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Earlier, Joe Swail had turned around yet another contest in which he was heading for defeat by transforming a 6-2 deficit into a 9-7 lead against his lifelong friend Patrick Wallace.

But world number two John Higgins was turning the screw on Ireland's Ken Doherty and had kept his two-frame lead at the interval of their second session, knocking in his second 139 break of the tournament to go 7-5 up.

Earlier, Stephen Hendry bowed out with a 13-5 drubbing at the hands of Matthew Stevens.

PA