Riyadh Season World Masters: Ronnie O’Sullivan demolishes John Higgins, Judd Trump survives Shaun Murphy onslaught

A focused Ronnie O’Sullivan put in one of the performances of the season to whitewash John Higgins, who did not pot a single ball in their Riyadh Season World Masters quarter-final.

The match did not start until 01:45 local time, but the seven-time World Champion showed no signs of tiredness.

Indeed, he wasted no time at all in dispatching his long-time rival, marking his first visit to Saudi Arabia with a quite remarkable display.

It was a chastening evening for Higgins, who had to watch on despairingly from his seat, as he was barely afforded a chance all match.

The Rocket made a blistering start, opening up with a total clearance of 135 to take a 1-0 lead.

A few minutes later, he was back to profit from a mistake from Higgins, who had attempted an ambitious pot to the right corner.

O’Sullivan was left in prime position at the business end of the table, but there was still plenty of work to do as he regularly had to go up for the blue.

Even so, The Rocket registered a second successive century, this time clearing the balls for 129.

The Wizard of Wishaw finally scored some points at the start of the third frame, albeit only by way of his opponent fouling.

Indeed, O’Sullivan still had first look at making a frame-winning contribution, making 36 before missing a red to the right corner with the rest.

Undeterred, he was soon back at the table after Higgins went in off, and took a 3-0 lead by compiling his third three figure score in a row, this time of 102.

Amazingly, there was more to come, as the Rocket signed off in style with a break of 82, completing a famous 4-0 success with a break of 82.

He goes through to the semi-finals to face Judd Trump, with the pair having won four titles each so far this season.

Earlier, Trump survived a remarkable performance from Shaun Murphy to win in the quarter-finals of the Riyadh Season World Masters.

The 2019 World Champion found himself up against it throughout an entertaining match, largely thanks to the form of his opponent, but still prevailed for a 4-3 victory.

It was the Magician who did most of the front running, leading from the first frame onwards as he barely gave his opponent a sniff in the early exchanges, but ran out of stream as the contest wore on.

He got off to the perfect start, rattling home the first century of the day as he capitalising on an error from Trump to stroke home a fantastic 126, much to the delight of the crowd.

He was well positioned to have a tilt at the ‘golden’ ball and the ‘super maximum’ break of 167 in the second frame, until unfortunately seeing a red run in front of his potting path on the black after opening the pack.

Undeterred, he converted a magnificent long green en route to a faultless 121, with Trump’s only shot coming when he went in-off.

The Ace in the Pack had not so much as potted a ball by this point, but he rectified that with a handy 41 in the third frame, with the break eventually running out of steam after losing position on one too many occasions.

That provided Murphy with a chance of a remarkable steal, but his comeback came to an end at 39, meaning Trump would come back to the table to half the deficit after forcing a mistake from his opponent with an excellent safety.

Shortly afterwards, it was 2-2, with the 34-year-old making his top break of 75, but parity did not last too long, as the Magician regained his lead with a visit of 82.

“This is a terrific snooker match we’re watching,” exclaimed Eurosport commentator Neal Foulds, and there was more to come, with Murphy racing to a break of 58 in the sixth frame, before misjudging a pot to the left corner.

That miss proved crucial, as it gave Trump the chance to forced a decider, which he did thanks to his own visit of 58.

He then had first sight at the seventh frame, only to miss a red with the rest when on 41. But Murphy did not have enough left in the tank to get back in it.

“It was a tough game,” said Trump, who was full of praise for his opponent. “It’s probably one of the best performances that anyone’s ever played against me.

“Shaun was unbelievable. He didn’t really do a lot wrong. I was scrappy. I felt a bit nervy to be fair. You never want to come to these places and go out first round.

“[I was thinking to myself] What time’s the next flight? Obviously I was concerned. He was playing unbelievable. Even when I got back to 2-2, after that he was still playing really well. I didn’t feel fluent in amongst the balls. I was just scrapping for my life out there.

“The last frame I had a good chance early on, I was a bit twitchy and missed a shot with the rest. Sometimes you get punished, but today I didn’t.”

Murphy, meanwhile, was left ruing that missed red in the sixth frame, which was effectively acting as match ball.

“You get your chances to win,” he said. “If you don’t take them, you very rarely get a second one. It was just one of those situations.

“Just at the wrong time in the break, I found myself in that situation playing the shot. It only just went. I think on the replay, it shows it was going in the middle of the pocket; it just caught the red and it wasn’t to be.”

It’s not been a great season for the Magician, who has been knocked out in the first or second round of six tournaments.

He now wants to use this performance as a turning point for the campaign, adding: “It can’t get much worse! I had that little run to the Masters semis. Of course we’re not turning up trying to get to the semis. We’re trying to take silverware home.

“It’s been a completely different 2023/24 season to 2022/23. The trophy cabinet’s bare this year. I’d like to think I’m saving it up for Sheffield.

“But I’m going to take quite a lot of positives from that match. I enjoyed the game. I struck the ball nicely. I think if I play like that for what’s left of my season, good things might be ahead.”