China's Yan Bingtao is just two wins away from lifting his first ranking event trophy after defeating John Higgins in the International Championship quarter-finals, just days after thrashing Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Allen will have to dig deep again
Bingtao followed his victories over O'Sullivan and Ricky Walden with a 6-4 success against Jack Lisowski who has found a good spell of form during the Autumn period. However, he raised eyebrows again with a stunning 6-2 victory over one of the most successful snooker players in history, John Higgins. The teenager took a 3-0 lead and never looked back as Higgins failed to find his range on the table.
His opponent in the semi-finals will be Mark Allen who admitted he is "lucky" to still be in the competition. After defeating Zhao Xintong 6-4, Allen has been taken to final frame deciders by Mark King, Martin O'Donnell and Judd Trump. Allen was on the verge of defeat against Trump after falling 5-3 behind but won three successive frames after edging Trump by just one point in the tenth frame.
Selby on course for his first title of the season
After struggling for form in the opening months of the season, World Champion Mark Selby has finally reached his first semi-final of the campaign. Three 6-4 victories, including a last 16 success against Mark Williams, was followed by a 6-2 win against number 61 seed Robbie Williams who previously defeated Neil Robertson in "his best ever win".
Selby will take on Martin Gould for a place in the final after the veteran came through two final frame challenges in the previous four rounds. Gould saw off Ali Carter as the pair traded frames throughout and defeated English Open finalist Kyren Wilson in the second round after the number 18 seed posted the second maximum break of the season.
The semi-finals will be the best of 17 frames, with the winners guaranteed at least £75,000 and the losers taking home £32,000.