Tian Pengfei whitewashes Ronnie O’Sullivan to reach Welsh Open Semi-Finals

Tian Pengfei pulled off an emphatic 5-0 whitewash of Ronnie O’Sullivan to progress to the Semi-Finals of the Welsh Open in Llandudno on Friday.

The world number 49 took advantage of an out sorts O’Sullivan to move into his first career ranking Semi-Final at Venue Cymru.

O’Sullivan had been blighted by issues with his cue tip throughout the week, and they continued in the Quarter-Final as he struggled to find his range.

O’Sullivan demonstrated his frustration by biting the tip off his cue at the end of the match, having seen his hopes of a record-equalling fifth Welsh Open title go up in smoke.

“It’s definitely a big win in my career, especially against Ronnie,” said Tian.

“When I play Ronnie I just try to enjoy the match as much as I can.

“At 4-0 in front I was still under pressure.

“It’s massive to beat Ronnie on TV, a lot of people are watching in Asia so I’m very happy.”

Tian took the opening frame with a break of 66, before doubling his lead with the aid of a 51 break.

He then edged a close-run third frame before firing in a clinical break of 82 to go 4-0 in front at the interval.

Tian, who had already knocked out the likes of Jimmy White and John Higgins en route to the Quarter-Finals, sealed the whitewash in style with a break of 73.

Defeat for O’Sullivan means he has failed to qualify for next week’s Players Championship in Wolverhampton – which features the top 16 players on the one-year ranking list.

“Tian played well and deserved his victory. I’ve just got to accept whatever was going on out there and I felt like I dealt with it,” admitted O’Sullivan.

“If I was to score myself out of ten with my mindset and how I dealt with today, I’d give myself nine and a half.

“I obviously didn’t pot the balls so very low in that area but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

“I don’t want to make excuses, it was what it was, you have to deal with whatever is put in front of you and accept it.”

Earlier in the afternoon, 2020 champion Shaun Murphy stormed to a 5-0 rout of Yuan Sijun.

Murphy, who made a magnificent maximum break on Thursday, continued his ruthless run of form as he produced back-to-back breaks of 81 and also recovered from needing two snookers to steal a frame.

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