Thursday 19 January 2017 22:39, UK
Ronnie O'Sullivan remains on course for a record seventh Dafabet Masters title after beating Neil Robertson 6-3 to reach the semis.
'The Rocket' was feeling better after suffering from an illness earlier in the week and reeled off the last four frames in a row to triumph 6-3 at Alexandra Palace.
Robertson has a good record in London, having reached three of the last five finals, and he took the first frame with a run of 74.
But defending champion O'Sullivan hit back with a 63 and followed that with a break of 51 to claim a 2-1 lead.
Robertson won frame four to level things up and the Australian rolled in breaks of 59 and 62 to take the fifth.
But O'Sullivan then took charge, winning the next four frames in succession, and compiling breaks of 55, 54 and 68 as he did so.
The 41-year-old said he is back to full health but is not oozing confidence about his prospects.
"Physically, I feel better," he told the BBC. "The last three or four days I've been really ill and this is the first day I actually feel better.
"I've needed a bit of luck to get through.
"They're all tough matches but I just keep hanging in there. I felt I just dragged him down but that's all you can do sometimes.
"I've had four or five years where I've been really consistent, hopefully I can turn it round.
"Maybe you miss easy balls as you get older and that's the difference between winning and losing but hopefully I've got three decent years in me.
"I don't think I'm playing well enough to win."
O'Sullivan will next face Marco Fu after the Hong Kong player defeated Mark Allen 6-2 in Thursday's evening quarter-final.
Breaks of 74 and 83 saw Fu open up a 2-0 lead, which he extended to 3-0, only for Northern Ireland's Allen to cut the deficit to a single frame with runs of 70 and 54.
But Fu regained control with a 97 and then moved to within a frame of victory with a clearance of 140, the top break in the tournament so far, before wrapping things up with a 65.
