Zhao Xintong ended Mark Selby’s title hopes and Wu Yize extended a remarkable streak of form at the International Championship in Nanjing – where John Higgins and Stephen Maguire set up an all-Scottish semi-final.
World champion Zhao came from 4-2 down, after breaks of 118 and 107 by Selby, to win their quarter-final 6-5 with a run of 63 in the decider.
Victory means the 28-year-old is through to the last four of a ranking event for the first time since his world title win at the Crucible in May.
“That was unbelievable. It was my first time beating Mark Selby and I had to come back from behind. I am so proud of myself,” Zhao told wst.tv.
Zhao will face fellow Chinese player Wu in the semi-finals and will need to halt his compatriot’s stunning momentum.
After Wu came back from 4-0 down to beat Judd Trump 6-4 in the last 16 on Wednesday, the 22-year-old extended his run of consecutive frame wins to 12 with a 6-0 thrashing of England’s Barry Hawkins.
The 22-year-old knocked in six breaks of more than 60, including runs of 73, 85, 111 and 86 in the last four frames of the match. He also had six breaks of over 60 in successive frames when staging his comeback against world number one Trump.
Four-time world champion Higgins, 50, had breaks of 112 and 116 in a 6-2 win over Shaun Murphy, who made a 137 in reply but was well beaten.
Veteran Scot Higgins is aiming to win a third ranking title in 2025 after previously going four years without one.
Higgins is third on the all-time list of ranking title winners with 33 – three behind Stephen Hendry and eight short of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s total.
He will face Maguire in the final four after the Championship League winner won six frames in a row to beat England’s Zak Surety 6-1, ending the campaign of the world number 60 who had a 147 earlier in the week and got the better of former Crucible champion Neil Robertson.