And then there were four, after a day that delivered three one sided victories,but one dramatic finish that had the Crucible rocking.
On paper the match up between John Higgins & Judd Trump looked to be the tie of the round and boy was that to be proven to be correct,in what was a match for the ages.
Higgins had reached this stage with some superb snooker in his opening two matches , whereas Trump had largely struggled to reach this stage.
For all that though, it was Trump who got off to the better start to lead after the first session 5-3. When he extended that lead to 7-3 this morning he looked to be taking control, but we should know better at this stage than to write off Higgins & back he came to not only draw level ,but to maybe consider himself unfortunate not to lead 9-7.
That last frame of the session did go to Trump though to leave it 8-8 and present us with a mouth watering best of nine for a place in the last four.
Into the night then and it was once again Trump who stamped his authority early to lead 11-9. Higgins though did yet again what great champions do when their back id to the wall, he knuckled down and fought back , taking the next three to lead 12-11.
Higgins was in first in the next,but this time it was Trump who showed the type of character that he has so often in the past lacked to clear to the blue and force the decider.
Higgins would not be denied though and he made the most of his second scoring chance to secure a hard fought 13-12 win.
In the semi final he will face the youngest man left in the tournament, in Kyren Wilson.
Wilson reached the single table set up for the first time with a sparkling 13-6 victory over Mark Allen.
Many , myself included , thought this would be a closely fought encounter,but a superb second session saw Wilson establish an 11-5 overnight lead and the from here the result was never in doubt.
Talking of one sided matches, Barry Hawkins once again showed his liking for this place with a 13-5 demolition job on Ding Junhui.
Following Ronnies exit in the last round many were predicting that this would be the year that Ding finally delivered the games biggest prize,but having looked in fine touch in the earlier rounds ,he was once again found lacking when the pressure came on and really bowed out here quite tamely.If this is something he wants to rectify,he would do well to watch a recording of John Higgins tonight
Hawkins will face Mark Williams,whose revival has been one of the stories of the season and the Welshman will be quietly fancying his chances of a third world title here after another strong finish to see off Ali Carter.
A close finish had looked on the cards here also, but starting the night leading 9-7 Williams floated his way to a 11-7 lead that left the result in little doubt.Carter dug deep to close to 11-8,but that was to be his last frame of the match, Williams running out a comfortable 13-8 winner in the end.
So what of the semi finals. Well the old sentimentalist in me would love to see a Higgins v Williams final,but really such is the degree of respect in the snooker world for all four of these competitors, no matter who wins it will be a great story.
As far as predictions go I think the key question in the Wilson v Higgins match will be just how much that last eight match took out of the veteran Scot.
Of course it is a four session match over three days,but we have seen time and time again just how important those early exchanges can be. I think if Higgins can at least stay close in the first session tomorrow he may just have a bit too much experience at this level for his young opponent.
Prediction 17-12 Higgins
If that one is hard to call then the match between Hawkins & Williams is nearly impossible.
Hawkins has of course been a regular at the business here in recent years,but perhaps the main difference this year is the fact that he has reached this stage without much drama and as a result will have plenty more left in the tank.
For Williams,I think, in recent years he has felt that these days were behind him and now finding himself here again he wont want to give it away easily.
For that reason I just favour the Welshman to edge this and give us that dream final ,but it will be close Prediction 17-15 to Williams
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