Marco Fu beat Ding Junhui 6-3 to book a semi-final meeting with Peter Ebdon's conqueror Stephen Lee at the SAGA Insurance Masters.
Ding beaten at Wembley
Marco Fu beat Ding Junhui 6-3 to book a semi-final meeting with Stephen Lee at the SAGA Insurance Masters.
The opening four frames were shared - Fu answering Ding's 87 break in the third with a 93 of his own in the fourth.
Ding moved 3-2 ahead by taking the fifth frame with a 54 break, but that was the high point for the Chinese potter.
Fu had breaks of 62, 86 and 51 while taking four consecutive frames to book his place in the last four.
"In this tournament, you have got to be on the top of your game for every single match, but at the moment I'm not even thinking about winning the tournament," said Fu.
"I've got a poor record against Stephen, so I'm hoping to play a lot better against him."
Ebdon out
In the afternoon, Lee crushed Peter Ebdon 6-1 to claim his semi-final spot.
The English world number 13 - who battled back from 5-2 down to beat Graeme Dott in the first round - had it much easier in the last eight and cruised into a 5-0 lead against a woefully out-of-sorts Ebdon.
The Wiltshire cueman had two breaks of 40 to win the opening frame before a run of 41 put him 2-0 up.
Ebdon got in during the next frame with a break of 48 but broke down on a pink and Lee punished him with a cool 87 clearance to lead 3-0.
He went 4-0 up thanks to a break of 54, before winning a scrappy fifth frame to move within one of victory.
Fuming
Former world champion Ebdon pulled a frame back with a break of 105, but the Dubai-based Londoner was left fuming after missing out on a golden 147 chance.
He missed a simple black with just the colours remaining, an error which cost him £35,000 in prize money.
Ebdon never recovered his composure and Lee took the seventh frame to set up a last four clash with Fu.
"It was a strange game, he never settled and kept giving me some nice chances," said Lee, who will be making his second appearance in a Wembley semi-final.
"It could have gone 2-2 but I cleared up to go 3-0 and he missed a lot of balls out there. That's probably the most chances I've had in the last couple of seasons.
"But you've still got to put those chances away. He's good enough to get back in the match at any given time, so I had to stay focused. I haven't got over the line enough this season and I chucked him a few lifelines.
"He's one of the toughest competitors I've ever played but I felt good when I went 3-0 - that was a big turning point in the match."
Badly
Ebdon told
BBC Sport: "I played so badly - I just couldn't work out what was going on there.
"It was just one of those days. If I'd tried to miss balls, I'd have probably ended up potting them.
"To be brutally honest, I got what I deserved. I was determined to do well this year and it just didn't happen for me.
"I'd dearly love to win the Masters one day."
