Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker LIVE – Luca Brecel faces Mark Allen before Ronnie O’Sullivan v Judd Trump

Allen is unfortunate to rattle a long red in the jaws of the left corner, leaving his opponent with the opportunity to counter.

The Pistol gets to 48 with six reds followed by blacks. However, his positional shot from the sixth black does not go to plan.

Allen is left with the prospect of a tricky pot or straightforward safety. With a heavy heart, he opts for the latter.

Four reds and four blacks…

Brecel gets to 72 and that is more than enough for him to draw first blood in this contest.

The world champion has a decent opportunity to win the opening frame here. He is on a break of 33 and counting.

There will be no 167 in this opening frame with the referee removing the golden ball after Allen plays the blue from the opening red.

Will we see this one today? With the top four seeds still standing, there is every chance.

Referee Tatiana Woollaston flips the coin. Brecel wins the toss and elects to break. This should be a brilliant first semi-final.

The players are introduced into the arena and we are almost ready to go here.

This will be their ninth meeting in professional competition, with Allen prevailing in five of the eight previous encounters.

Although, this is their first showdown outside the UK since the 2015 Shanghai Masters, when the Pistol was a 5-3 winner in the last 32.

Our first semi-final pits the world champion against the world number three.

Brecel was a commanding 4-1 winner over Ali Carter on Tuesday, while Allen claimed a dramatic 4-3 victory over Mark Selby on the final black.

Hello everyone and welcome to live coverage of day three at the inaugural Riyadh Season World Masters.

It is the final day of action at the Global Theatre in Boulevard City, where the two semi-finals will be played this afternoon before the final takes centre stage this event.

First up, reigning world champion Luca Brecel takes on Mark Allen, before another mouth-watering showdown sees Ronnie O’Sullivan lock horns with Judd Trump.

Ronnie O’Sullivan admits he is feeling close to his best again after a convincing whitewash victory over John Higgins at the Riyadh Season World Masters.

O’Sullivan completed a 4-0 win in a match which did not start until 01:45 in the Saudi Arabian capital, and now faces a tantalising semi-final clash against Judd Trump.

“I felt really comfortable over the shot,” O’Sullivan said on Eurosport.

“It’s the first time in a while. I’ve felt OK the last few weeks in practice. Two years of absolute filth and I’m starting to feel alright again. It’s been a long time.

“That’s the worst part about my job, having to play. Getting away, going to the gym, eating good food, chilling out, watching Netflix. When you’re playing OK, it’s alright. When you’re playing absolute filth, you’re like, ‘oh no’ – it’s embarrassing sometimes.

“I don’t drink, I don’t go out partying so this is a great place for me, this kind of place. In the UK, it’s all pubs and drinking.”

All of Tuesday’s matches ran late due to the lengthy first contest between Mark Selby and Mark Allen, with the former claiming a dramatic 4-3 win.

“I call him Midnight Selby now because all his games go past midnight,” O’Sullivan joked.

“It’s a nightmare. You don’t want to be following Mark because you go into the next day.

“It’s the top players playing against each other, so you’re always going to get good games, unless it’s Mark and Mark today.

“It was a bit of a drag, wasn’t it? Even Mark Allen said after: ‘That was tough!'”