Wilson sweeps past Zhao to book Murphy semi-final at Champion of Champions
The International Championship winner reeled off five straight frames with three centuries to beat world No. 1 Zhao Xintong 6-1 and complete the last-four line-up in Leicester.
LEICESTER — Kyren Wilson carried his International Championship form straight into the Mattioli Arena on Thursday night, compiling three centuries in a 6-1 rout of world No. 1 Zhao Xintong to take the final semi-final place at the Champion of Champions.
Wilson, who lifted the Nanjing trophy only last Saturday, was untouchable through the first five frames of the evening's Group Two final — breaks of 75, 100, 123, 86 and 104 held Zhao scoreless in three of them. The world champion avoided a whitewash with a 78 in frame six, but Wilson closed it out 90-0 in the next.
The evening win followed an eventful afternoon for both men. Wilson had earlier seen off Ali Carter 4-2, while Zhao — back in the country only days after his International Championship quarter-final run in Nanjing — whitewashed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-0.
Wilson now meets Shaun Murphy in Saturday's second semi-final — a collision of the week's two form horses, with Murphy yet to drop a frame in Leicester after whitewashing both Ronnie O'Sullivan and Chang Bingyu on Wednesday. Chris Wakelin and Neil Robertson contest the first semi-final on Friday night, with the final over two sessions on Sunday.
Why it matters: Saturday's semi-final pits the only two unbeaten records left in the draw against each other — Murphy has won all ten frames he has played this week, while Wilson arrives on a streak that has now brought him the Northern Ireland Open and International Championship titles inside a month.
Sources: results and frame scores per the CueTracker bracket, independently confirmed by Totally Snookered's draw and results page; International Championship context via BBC Sport. See our day-three wrap.
