Ronnie O'Sullivan misses 147 on way to Welsh Open semis

WELSH OPEN SNOOKER
Venue: Newport Centre Date: Monday 25 - Sunday, 31 January
Coverage: Exclusively live on BBC TWO Wales and online, plus score updates on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 live and online

Rocket blows two maximum breaks in a row

Ronnie O'Sullivan eased to a 5-2 win over Mark Allen to set up a Welsh Open semi-final against John Higgins.

The world number one twice came close to making a 147 maximum break, first in the fourth frame when he potted 11 reds and 11 blacks before missing.

In the next, O'Sullivan cleared 15 reds and 15 blacks, but having potted the yellow he missed the green.

Higgins beat Mark Selby 5-2 while the other semi-final sees Stephen Maguire take on reigning champion Ali Carter.

Maguire had a comprehensive 5-1 win over Mark Williams with runs of 65, 69, 88, 66 and 67 while Carter beat Ryan Day 5-2.

Allen raises white flag to O'Sullivan

Carter surged into a 4-0 lead and, despite allowing Day to pull two frames back, was not to be caught with breaks of 69, 81 and 65 his biggest contributions.

O'Sullivan, who took just 55 minutes to beat Jamie Cope on Thursday, was in a similar mood on Friday and needed just 68 minutes to wrap up victory.

His failure to make the 147 in the fifth frame provoked gasps from the crowd who seemed certain to witness history - a 147 would have made O'Sullivan the first man to reach 10 career maximums in professional events.

The Englishman fell 1-0 and 2-1 behind in the early stages but was mostly highly impressive, making breaks of 92, 88, 90 and 50 alongside his 122 in the fifth.