Ding Junhui v Xu Si live stream | International Championship Semi-Final preview

Ding Junhui goes head to head with compatriot Xu Si on Saturday for a place in this year’s International Championship final.

The two home favourites do battle at the South New City National Fitness Center (SNCNFC) in Nanjing, with Chris Wakelin awaiting the winner in Sunday’s showpiece.

China’s number one and this week’s maximum man collide for the second time in as many months, though neutrals will be hoping for a much closer contest this time around.

Indeed, Ding hit breaks of 130, 111, 102 and 69 on the way to a dominant 5-0 whitewash, in which he outscored his opponent by 497 to 25.

The Dragon began this week in a similar manner, dropping just a single frame as he saw off Reanne Evans, Martin O’Donnell and Hossein Vafaei.

The 14-time ranking event winner then saw off compatriot Jiang Jun 6-3, before hitting back-to-back tons of 129 and 123 in the last two frames to seal a 6-4 victory over World champion Kyren Wilson.

Ding has hit five centuries in as many matches, while his opponent is targeting his first appearance in a ranking final to round off what has already been a memorable week.

Reaching his second ranking semi-final – seven years after his first at the 2017 Indian Open – Xu compiled his second maximum break during his 6-2 victory over Ryan Day, for which he is currently on course to pocket £5,000.

Although, that does represent the world number 49’s most comfortable win of the week. Indeed, he came from 5-4 down to edge out Stan Moody in the last 64.

The 26-year-old then trailed 4-3 and 5-3 against world number one Judd Trump and reigning Scottish and Welsh Open champion Gary Wilson respectively, before coming good when the chips were down. On both occasions, he reeled off the last three frames without losing a single point to seal comeback wins.

It promises to be an intriguing showdown over the best of 17 frames

Play on Saturday gets under way at 6am GMT with the opening eight frames, before resuming at 11.30am with a maximum of nine at the SNCNFC in Nanjing.

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