Higgins stays on course for sixth Welsh Open title

John Higgins remained on course for a sixth Welsh Open title after brushing aside Zhou Yuelong in the quarter-final.

The Scot clinched three scrappy frames before making breaks of 75 and 67 to win the contest 5-0.

Higgins will meet Jack Lisowski in the semi-final after he defeated 2017 champion Stuart Bingham 5-2.

Lisowski stormed into a 4-0 lead in Llandudno, with breaks of 70 and 118, before Bingham wrestled two frames back.

But Lisowski, who won his first ranking title at the Northern Ireland Open in October, held his composure to seal victory.

Barry Hawkins reached his first semi-final of the season after seeing off a former world champion for the second day in a row.

Having overcome Mark Williams on Thursday, Hawkins beat Neil Robertson 5-3.

Hawkins made only one break over 40 but came out on top in several scrappy frames to set up a last-four meeting with either Wu Yize, who beat fellow Chinese player Jiang Jun in a final-frame decider.

The semi-finals, which will be best of 11 frames, will be played on Saturday.