Hong Kong Masters snooker 2022 LIVE – John Higgins leads Marco Fu semi-final before Ronnie O’Sullivan v Neil Robertson

Fu 1-3 Higgins (0-0)

An 83 from Higgins as a tough black fails to drop and a 3-1 mid-session lead. He needs three more frames to reach Sunday’s final.

Fu 1-2 Higgins (0-83)

A brilliant cutback on red to centre. Pops in black and this will be 3-1 to the 31-time ranking event winner. Solid play from Higgins as you come to expect.

Fu 1-2 Higgins (0-55)

No maximum this time, but Higgins pulls out a glorious recovery pot on blue to maintain his visit to the table. Still a very decent chance of a second century perhaps and a 3-1 interval lead.

Fu 1-2 Higgins (0-40)

A fine starter red from Higgins to a centre pocket to get going. Would dearly love to validate his lead with a big contribution here. Opens the pack of reds with a lovely little split via black and this is an obvious scoring chance for the 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011 world champion.

Fu 1-1 Higgins (47-73)

A clinical break of 68 from John and a 2-1 lead in the race to six. One more frame before the mid-session interval. That frame will irk Marco as he had several chances to pull away. Not to be and he is again playing catch-up.

Fu 1-1 Higgins (47-52)

Looks a bit ominous for Fu with two reds and colours left to negotiate for Higgins. Blue off spot, but should not be too difficult to sort out.

Fu 1-1 Higgins (47-13)

Chances coming and going for Marco in this frame. Has had two decent scoring opportunities, but nothing doing before Higgins picks out a do-or-die red to the green pocket. Brilliant pot and they are all there to be mopped up at the scoring end of the table.

Fu 1-1 Higgins (19-1)

Higgins so unfortunate to see a red drop in after slotting blue to a centre pocket. Fu with opportunity to get back in among the balls.

Fu 0-1 Higgins (76-50)

A terrific clearance of 75 from Fu and he is level at 1-1. Higgins with a missed red to middle and he pays the ultimate price. This match warming up nicely. The Hong Kong fans certainly enjoyed that little cameo from Marco.

Fu 0-1 Higgins (58-50)

This has been brilliant from Fu as he removes that problem red via another red before rolling in the pink. Looks like we are heading for 1-1 in this semi-final. Counter attack the order of the day so far.

Fu 0-1 Higgins (28-50)

One red safe on side cushion and that could decide the destination of this second frame.

Fu 0-1 Higgins (1-50)

But just when it looked in the bag, Higgins can’t hole a red to a centre bag. A reprieve for Marco as object ball stays out via the far jaw. Now then, now then…

Fu 0-1 Higgins (1-50)

Higgins enjoying his day out so far. Looks to be striking the white ball with real authority. You would have to suggest this is a decent chance for a 2-0 lead and another largish break.

Fu 0-1 Higgins (1-9)

Looked like a certain re-rack, but Higgins goes for a double on red only to see the red run back down the table and leave an easy opener for his opponent. Fu can only make one before missing another black off the spot.

Didn’t expect that from Marco and John is handed another opportunity he probably didn’t see coming.

Fu 0-0 Higgins (22-105)

This is going to be a century straight off the bat by the four-time world champion. A classy clearance of 105 from the Wishaw man. A spot of trademark wizardry from the Scottish icon. And a 1-0 lead. Fu heavily punished for one error.

Fu 0-0 Higgins (22-48)

The Hong Kong crowd certainly appreciate good snooker and Higgins is giving them a treat so far. Table looks to be playing generously, it must be said. A bit more give on the pockets you could argue, but still have to put the balls away. Chance for Higgins to take the lead at this visit.

Fu 0-0 Higgins (22-8)

Fu up to 22 before he misses a black off the spot. Just misjudged the angles on that one and Higgins quickly out of his chair. Chance for the Scotsman to get hand on table among the balls.

Fu 0-0 Higgins (6-0)

A few reds already lurking in the bottom half of the table. Both men have to be careful with their movements in this tactical exchange. Fu ends up fluking a red to top end of table and follows up with a nice brown to a centre pocket. First chance to Marco.

Fu 0-0 Higgins (0-0)

The semi-finals and final are the best of 11 frames. So first to six frames progresses to tomorrow’s final. It really is a fantastic event in arguably the finest arena for snooker across the globe.

Certainly the largest. Makes the Crucible resemble a telephone box. What are the career head-to-heads between Fu and Higgins?

Fu is ahead on the career duels. He leads 8-6. They last met six years ago in the Scottish Open final with Fu winning 9-4.

Believe it or not, he won eight straight frames from 4-1 behind that day in Glasgow to carry off the prize.

Welcome to semi-final day

A huge few hours coming up with John Higgins facing Marco Fu and Ronnie O’Sullivan meeting Neil Robertson in the last four of this elite invitational event. Three world champions and the scoring prowess of a local Hong Kong icon in Marco isn’t a bad way to get your sporting weekend up and running.

Fair chance we’ll see the world record attendance for a snooker match smashed over the next few days with the final already a 9,000 sell-out at the Hong Kong Coliseum on Sunday. Will surely be another massive crowd flocking to this vast arena today.

Boys on baize at 6.30am BST.

Results from Friday and Saturday’s schedule

Friday October 7

6:30

• Neil Robertson 5-3 Mark Williams

12:15

• Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Ng On Yee

Saturday October 8

Semi-finals

6:30

12:00

• Neil Robertson v Ronnie O’Sullivan

Recap: O’Sullivan opens up with a whitewash

Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the semi-finals at the Hong Kong Masters with a 5-0 victory over home icon Ng On-yee.

Ng was amongst the balls upon the resumption but broke down to allow O’Sullivan back in, with the Rocket crafting a magnificent 95 knock to book a semi-final meeting with Neil Robertson.

Ng will rue missed chances in the first frame to put the defending world champion on the back foot, but from that point on her opponent was simply too good.

“It’s unbelievable,” O’Sullivan said after the match. “A fantastic crowd.

“We love coming to Asia, the fans are always excited to see us play and cheer on a lot of the shots that we pot and it makes us want to play well because the crowd respond so well. It’s fantastic to be here. It’s a huge venue, it’s just great to be here.

“I never really have expectations because everybody is a good player. If you have an off day and the other guy plays well, you’re packing your bags and going home.

“So you always have to play well to expect to win, but that’s not always the case. I’ve won a lot of tournaments not playing well and won, but you want to play your [on] best form, especially in front of a great crowd like this. I’m just enjoying my snooker.

“We love coming to Asia, love coming to Hong Kong. The fans are just so happy to see you. We would like to play more in Hong Kong and Asia – it’s the best fans, the best tournaments so [it’s] just lovely to be here. Thank you for your hospitality and see you tomorrow.”

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