Ronnie O'Sullivan booked his ticket to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters by beating Stuart Bingham 6-2.
O'Sullivan had looked in fine touch when breezing past Riga Masters champion Neil Robertson in the previous round and put on another dazzling show for the Chinese fans in this quarter-finals clash.
Bingham was the one to draw first blood, pinching the opener 52-51 in a frame where both players had chances, but the Rocket soon levelled the scores with a break of 50 before taking the next frame.
A run of 93 sent O'Sullivan into the mid-session interval with a 3-1 lead and a magnificent break of 111 upon the resumption increased his lead further.
Bingham responded in kind, keeping himself in the contest with a century of his own, a flawless 134, but O'Sullivan hit straight back with a sublime break of 140 and the 950th competitive century of his career.
🙌💯 Ronnie O'Sullivan scores his 950th career century!
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) September 13, 2018
😲 That's 175 more than Stephen Hendry, who is 2nd on the all-time listpic.twitter.com/ygXrG3jtbK
A fourth century on the spin never came but a 72 break from O'Sullivan was enough to see him over the line 6-2 and book his place in the last four.
He will face Kyren Wilson for a place in the final after the latter came from 3-1 behind to beat Ryan Day 6-5.Wilson looked to set to win 6-4 when making a break of 57 in frame ten but a missed red allowed Day to clear up with 75 and force a decider.
A nerveless break of 135 ensured Wilson wouldn't live to regret that earlier miss, though, as he continued his strong start to the new season.
Semi-Finals
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Kyren Wilson
TBC v Barry Hawkins
