Champion of Champions results and report: Neil Robertson wins his group

Defending the title he won last year, the Australian first blew away White with two centuries and a further two frame-winning contributions, before finally seeing off Ding in another heavy-scoring encounter.

Ding, who had earlier picked the pocket of John Higgins as the tournament got under way, had his chances to once again complete a fightback, but his luck ran out in frame 10 as Robertson took care of business.

“I made a couple of centuries in the match and a couple of other breaks and looked good in amongst the balls but just allowed some frames to drag on a little bit,” said Robertson. “I missed a couple of tricky reds to the middle where I would have killed the frames off much earlier and we should probably be talking about winning the game 6-2.

“Ding fought back in a lot of the frames and won some on the colours, so I had to hold my nerve a little bit, especially with that black at 4-4 which I had to play with a lot of pace. I’m really pleased with how I finished it off out there.

“It’s quite early in the season and we aren’t used to playing two matches in one day with the best of seven in the afternoon and a best of 11 in the evening, that’s quite a lot of snooker to play. I think at times I just drifted in and out of concentration.

“I have a great record in this event, won it twice and this will be my fifth semi-final. I love this tournament, all the players do and to be defending champion and get to the semi-finals is a really good defence so far.”

The first two frames of the match were superb, Ding's 93 break countered by a stunning 139 from Robertson, taking his tally to three centuries in six frames after he'd thumped White 4-0.

Soon though things became tight and tense, Ding taking frame three 63-62, before Robertson took his revenge and levelled the match by also winning a black-ball frame thanks in part to a fine brown from distance.

Returning from a short break, Robertson took control with breaks of 104 and 62, but now it was Ding's turn to take a couple in succession as his opponent became sloppy and allowed the Chinese to level at 4-4.

Robertson stopped the rot in a vital frame nine, as Ding carelessly left him with a simple black which handed back the initiative to the defending champion.

And, after a lengthy exchange of safeties and small breaks, Robertson managed one final, match-winning contribution to earn a place in the last four.

No mercy from Neil

Neil Robertson offered no mercy to Jimmy White as he blew away The Whirlwind with an impressive start to his Champion of Champions defence in Milton Keynes.

White qualified for this event by virtue of winning the World Seniors Championship back in August but he found Robertson in devastating form as the Australian put together breaks of 101, 115, 81 and 59 in a dazzling display.

White was left to rue a missed black off the spot in the opening frame and he barely had a look in thereafter, Robertson surgically compiled his first of two centuries in the match - a break of 101 - before swiftly doubling his lead with a fabulous clearance of 115 in frame two.

A third century in succession just proved out of Robertson's reach - a thin cut black with the rest finally stopping him in his tracks - but a run of 81 was good enough to put him within touching distance of victory and a couple of crucial misses from White in the following frame allowed his opponent to complete the whitewash.

Robertson actually began the fourth frame with a couple of huge flukes but White had a couple of chances of his own before the recent English Open runner-up sent out a warning shot to the rest of the field by closing out the match with a break of 59.

Ding ousts Higgins

Ding Junhui rallied to beat John Higgins 4-3 in a nerve-racking encounter which could have gone either way.

Higgins led 2-0 thanks to breaks of 69 and 111, but the tide turned in frame three when the Scot went for an ambitious pot when he might have played the easier safety.

Ding landed a counter-punch courtesy of a break of 51 and again edged the next, before Higgins moved back into the lead with a break of 61 in what was a heavy-scoring encounter throughout.

Again Ding levelled, this time with a run of 77, to set up a nervous finale in which he spurned an opening with a miscue to present Higgins with a golden opportunity.

The veteran appeared on course to land a counter of his own and with it the knockout, but after a series of delicate pots and cannons, he left himself just a shade high on the black, missed, and handed the initiative back to Ding.

The Chinese showed impressive poise to pick off the free reds and tuck in behind the tricky ones, plotting his way to a frame-winning contribution which completed an impressive turnaround.

• Champion of Champions draw & results