Ronnie O’Sullivan v Zhao Xintong LIVE: World Snooker Championship semi-final scores and updates

That’s a big miss by Ronnie in the sixth frame, he’d played the white beautifully too, the red would have been perfect.

Zhao races off his chair and quickly extends his lead in the frame, 7-46. The balls are laid out very nicely.

The tournament average shot times: O’Sullivan 16 seconds… Zhao with 20 seconds.

That is classic O’Sullivan, mentally so strong in there without his best stuff, then he flicks the switch.

A patient break of 60… 71-0 in the end and conceded by Zhao. 3-2 to the Englishman.

This is a big move, some tricky shots, but high up on the table, one leg down, that’s a delicate red with a high action.

Classic Ronnie! Masterful break building with the black out of action! Now up 59-0… Just a couple more reds to take the lead in this match.

O’Sullivan with an error and leaves Zhao at the table, down just 11-0.

A long red to nothing isn’t especially close, but the white rounds out behind the yellow down at the baulk.

Aggressive from ‘The Rocket’, the red to the middle won’t go, but the white settles by the baulk cusion, the green displaced too and partially blocking that right corner now.

Stephen Hendry also adamant Zhao must avoid those unforced errors, “you’ve got to make hay while the sun shines,” he says.

Can the Chinese player fend off this swing in momentum for ‘The Rocket’?

“If it is a new tip, almost every shot he’s playing out there is guesswork,” Shaun Murphy tells the BBC on O’Sullivan’s new tip.

O’Sullivan is level, but he doesn’t look comfortable.

Can he figure this out on the fly?

Now then, O’Sullivan motors to a break of 73… A sloppy miss means no century, but a puff of the cheeks and Zhao’s lead has been erased.

Ominous from ‘The Rocket’.

Much better from Ronnie after Zhao fouls after a delicate safety battle.

Ronnie moving nicely now and in a flash moves to 68 in less than four minutes…

Still shaking his head, but O’Sullivan has settled and will halve the deficit shortly. A break of 64, that’ll do nicely, game on!

Oooh, that’s a telling miss from Ronnie! A problem throughout the tournament, that blue drifts away after a nice long red. O’Sullivan back to his chair and Zhao with a chance to mop up for a three-frame lead?

After a tidy break, Zhao plays a majestic safety to tuck in behind the blue at the baulk end, he makes Ronnie work to escape and now we enter a gripping safety battle at 1-32.

Zhao secures the frame 62-13 with a lovely long-range red at a tight angle, that just about drifts wide of the yellow on its spot, into the pocket. He misses the black on the next, but O’Sullivan concedes the frame.

Who predicted this for a start?