Ding Junhui benefitted from an outrageous fluke shot en route to one of the biggest wins of his career against Ronnie O'Sullivan.
The Chinese player went in as the rank underdog against the top seed in the UK Championship, who had cruised into the last eight without breaking sweat in York. So, few would have predicted what transpired in their last eight match, with Ding romping home 6-0 as 'The Rocket' suffered his first ever whitewash loss in a triple crown tournament.
Ding was leading 2-0 when he produced a super break of 88 to establish firm control. And then early in the fourth frame, with the Chinese star leading just 6-3, he had a moment of fortune which saw hopes of the world No 1 fade even further.
After lining up a red to the far corner pocket, Ding missed by some distance, with the red cannoning off two cushions and into another red. To the astonishment of the crowd though, the latter ball travelled up the table, hit the opposite back cushion, and found it's way into a middle pocket.
"You are kidding," said the commentator on Eurosport, as O'Sullivan looked on glumly from his chair. "Wow. Well that's the other thing you can't control. But what a fluke that was."
Ding, 35, made the absolute most of his unexpected opportunity, racking up another break of 94 to leave the seven-time world champion with a mountain to climb. And that climb looked steeper still when Ding hit 79 in the next frame to make it 5-0.
And he booked his place in the semi finals in style, finally notching the century he'd three times fallen short off with a 131 break. And to O'Sullivan's credit, he responded by warmly embracing his opponent.
"He played well. He played brilliantly well," said O'Sullivan. "I hope he goes onto win it now. He just proved what a fantastic player he is. I'm not surprised. I've had a good run, I can't complain. I've got a bit of time off now."
Ding himself claimed his brilliant form was the culmination ox extra time on the practice table with his fellow professionals: "I've been working hard over the past two years," he said.
