Ronnie O'Sullivan booked his place in a 15th Masters semi-final with a battling 6-3 victory over Barry Hawkins at Alexandra Palace.
It was a long way from vintage O'Sullivan, who struggled throughout, but Hawkins fell apart in the latter part of the match having spurned a number of opportunities from 3-2 in front.
O'Sullivan did manage to finish with a flourish, a sublime match-winning clearance of 77 highlighted by a brilliant final red across the table with the white chained to the side cushion.
Even then, Hawkins, runner-up in 2016 and 2022, was left kicking himself having missed to middle when well set on 50 and firmly on course to reduce his arrears to 5-4. As he has so often done before, O'Sullivan made him pay.
"I just feel sorry for Barry," O'Sullivan told the BBC. "He was playing good until he started playing me and I just dragged him down to the most awful standard of snooker.
"So I’m really sorry about that today. I’m just lucky to get through.
"I’ve just got this ability that if I play bad, they play even worse. Not everybody, some of the guys punish me, but it’s just how it is and how it's always been."
Ronnie O'Sullivan makes it 4 on the bounce to book his place in his 15th Masters semi-final! 💥#TheMasters pic.twitter.com/87rD94mdgG
— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 11, 2024
The match started as it ended, with a sprinkling of O'Sullivan magic as he raced into the lead thanks to a run of 88, but that wasn't a sign of things to come as the afternoon turned into a slog, and Hawkins looked the stronger when edging 3-2 ahead.
However, a scrappy sixth frame, which O'Sullivan managed to win, set Hawkins back and he never recovered, yet another forgettable frame then going the way of the seven-time champion who cleared to the pink for a 4-3 lead.
A break of 60 helped O'Sullivan move two frames clear and though still a long way from his best, he summoned one final spark of genius to finish the job and set up a last-four clash with Shaun Murphy.
Hawkins told Eurosport: "Frustrating more than anything. I had plenty of chances today. I've got no complaints; plenty of chances and I just didn't take them.
"Sometimes you drag each other down, it's just frustrating. Normally you'd take them chances and win the frames.
"I felt good and that's the truth. I fancied winning, and I don't feel like that very often – against Ronnie, anyway. I felt decent out there, just didn't take my chances. It is what it is."
In the evening, Murphy dominated most of the match against Jack Lisowski to run out a 6-3 winner.
Murphy led 5-1 thanks to a brace of centuries and finally ended Lisowski's bid to turn the match around with a phenomenal black in frame nine.
"You just never feel safe against Jack," said Murphy. "When you play in front of a crowd like this, how can you not love it?"
Murphy will face O'Sullivan on Saturday.
Thursday results & Friday schedule
Thursday January 11
Quarter-finals - best of 11
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Barry Hawkins
Evening session (1900 GMT)
- Shaun Murphy 6-3 Jack Lisowski
Friday January 12
Quarter-finals - best of 11
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
- Judd Trump v Ali Carter
Evening session (1900 GMT)
- Mark Selby v Mark Allen
