Hendry lost a night's sleep before his clash with Carter

The Scot was diagnosed with a bout of gastroenteritis and only played after an injection from a doctor.

Carter now meets Shaun Murphy in the last four after he eased past world champion Graeme Dott 5-2.

Ryan Day beat Mark King 5-1 to reach his first ranking semi-final. He faces Peter Ebdon, who beat Ken Doherty 5-3.

Hendry believed a chicken and prawn meal at a nearby Indian restaurant the night before may have caused his stomach upset.

I was aware that Stephen wasn't feeling too clever but I knew that he would still be tough to beat. Ali Carter

He arrived sweating and feeling weak at the venue and was given special dispensation to play in an open-necked shirt rather than the normally compulsory bow tie.

"It's really disappointing," said the seven-time world champion.

"There were times when I thought I wasn't going to be able to play but the injection stopped me feeling quite so bad and I decided to give it a go.

"It was difficult to play but there are no excuses. I did well enough to win four frames so I can't really complain about not winning five."

It will be Carter's second appearance in the semi-finals of a world ranking event, the first coming at the 1999 Grand Prix in Preston.

He said: "I was aware that Stephen wasn't feeling too clever but I knew that he would still be tough to beat.

"But I'm pleased I showed the character to come back from 4-3 down."

Murphy advanced against the player who last year succeeded him as world champion.

Dott took the first two frames but after battling through a scrappy third, Murphy rattled off breaks of 32 twice, 55 and a 134 total clearance.

Additional runs of 58 and 86 sealed his five-frame winning streak.

Dott said: "Shaun fully deserved to win and if he carries on playing like that he's got a good chance of going all the way here."

Welshman Day, meanwhile, entered uncharted territory as he booked his long awaited debut in the semi-finals of a world ranking event after beating England's King.

He said: "Every time Mark made a mistake I stepped in and made a big break. That always boosts your confidence."

Doherty, meanwhile, would have been guaranteed top spot in the provisional world rankings had he maintained his 3-1 mid-session interval lead over Ebdon.

But the UK champion clawed his way back, stringing together four frames in a row without managing a single half-century break.

"It's very much a case of living to fight another day," said Ebdon, now two victories away from joining the select band of players who have snared back-to-back world ranking titles.