The Masters Day 6 The conclusion of the QF action

After a week of that has seen close  matches and drama aplenty,the one thing that had been missing from the 2014 Masters was a really stand out performance ,but that is certainly what we got today as Ronnie O'Sullivan produced a display that shook this tournament to its foundations.

Where exactly do you start in trying to describe his 6-0 demolition of Ricky Walden this afternoon.? Well the stats certainly tell some of the story, a 97% pot success rate,556 unanswered points ( a new record) five breaks over 70 including a 134 and all this in just 58 minutes,but as I said these only tell some of the story,To fully appreciate this performance you really had to be watching the effortless way he seemed to float around the table with the cue ball obeying his every demand.It was truly a thing of beauty.

This was as close to perfection as we will ever see.and in this form he will take some stopping this weekend as he goes in search of a fifth Masters crown.

Next up for Ronnie tomorrow night will be Stephen Maguire after the Scot produced a  fine all round display to beat the world no.1 Neil Robertson 6-2.

This one always had the look of a match where the early exchanges would be all important and so it proved as Maguire won a 46 minute opener and followed it up by claiming the next two to open a 3-0 lead. Robertson,as he was in his first match,seemed to just a little flat with maybe his early season exertions starting to take their toll,but he rallied to claim the frames either side of the interval to close to just 3-2 behind.

At this stage another late night finish looked on the cards but Maguire established a two frame lead again in the next  with a break of 75 and he never looked back as he pulled away to record a 6-2 success.

So a fascinating weekends snooker lies ahead of us with two very tasty semi finals tomorrow to whet our appetite ahead of the final on Sunday.Of course at this stage any of the four men remaining would be a deserving champion,but I think its fair to say if Ronnie continues to play like he did today it will take something phenomenal to beat him.