Snooker:Ronnie O'Sullivan admits he will need to be on his guard against a confident John Higgins as two of the finest players in world snooker prepare to meet in the semi-finals of the UK Championship.
O'Sullivan and Higgins set up a stellar last-four clash by posting crushing victories in their respective quarter-final matches in Telford last night.
World number one O'Sullivan wrapped up a 9-3 triumph over Mark Selby while Higgins was at his clinical best as he compiled a one-sided 9-2 win over China's Liang Wenbo.
O'Sullivan and Higgins will meet in the semis tomorrow, with Stephen Maguire and Ding Junhui doing battle in the first semi later today.
But it is the meeting between the two three-time world champions that will have snooker fans licking their lips in anticipation, and O'Sullivan concedes he is coming up against a player in top form.
"Snooker has been blessed with certain players who play the game the way it should be," said O'Sullivan.
"My first choice is Stephen Hendry but he's easier to play against in a way because there isn't a lot of strategy involved, it's long red and game over.
"John is different, he's more of an all-round match player. He's confident at the moment and he's dispatching people."
O'Sullivan was slow out of the blocks in the evening session against Selby, who reduced a 6-2 interval deficit with a break of 136.
Selby spurned an opening in the next when he missed a red that might have got him back in the frame and O'Sullivan punished him with a break of 92 to restore his four-frame lead.
Selby looked in control in the next but made an error after building a comfortable lead, paving the way for the Rocket to move to the brink of victory with another solid break, before a 12th frame littered with mistakes finally went the way of O'Sullivan.
"The scoreline flattered me, Mark had his chances but he didn't take them," 34-year-old O'Sullivan added.
"It's a win I suppose but it's hard to be happy or filled with any joy. I could have been more clinical."
Higgins' win over Liang rarely looked in doubt after he raced into a 5-0 lead in the afternoon session.
Liang took two of the final three frames as he finally found some rhythm but the Chinese player had no answer after the interval as the class of his Scottish opponent told.
A break of 56 was ultimately sufficient for Higgins to move 7-2 ahead while a 73 break and a classy 115 secured his serene progress to the final four.
"I nicked a couple of frames today, which was the difference," Higgins admitted. "Instead of going 3-1 or 4-2, I managed to nick them and end up 5-0 in front, and they were the turning points.
"I'm going to need to improve if I'm playing Ronnie in the next round but that'll be a game I'll look forward to.
"It's always a game I look forward to since I've been a snooker player and Saturday will be no different.
"I've always said in my career that, if you play bad in that match, you have no chance of winning. Against maybe 98 per cent of players you can play not so well and win but against him you've got to play to a really high standard or you can't win."