Mark Williams is set to face Elliott Slessor in the Northern Ireland Open semi-finals after his fine victory over Mike Dunn. The 42-year-old Williams had never beaten Dunn in his 26 years on the tour but managed to put that poor record to bed with a 5-1 victory in Belfast.
Having secured a comfortable win over the Gateshead player, Williams, who is 1/6 to win his semi-final, is now looking forward to facing Slessor in his final-four showdown on Saturday. He said: “I’m glad to have that one off my back, I can’t go through my whole career not beating someone like Mike Dunn, it would have killed me.” Williams added: “I’ve played him (Elliot) a couple of times, he beat me last year but I think we’re 1-1 on a head-to-head as he beat me in the Welsh Open, second round I think. But they’re all tough from now on, I’m just happy that I’m playing a lot better currently. “There have been a couple of times where the draw has opened up from the quarter-finals and then I’ve been knocked out.
So I don’t look it as being the favourite, if I am then it’s the first time for a long time.” Meanwhile in the other semi-final Yan Bingtao set up an all-Chinese semi-final against Lyu Haotian, thanks to the 17-year-old Bingtao’s 5-4 win over Robert Milkins. Haotian, who is 14/5 to beat Bingtao, earned his place in the semi-finals on Saturday after his 5-4 victory over Tian Pengfei.
Dafabet Northern Ireland Open odds available at Dafabet.