Ding puts Ebdon out of Grand Prix

GRAND PRIX
Venue: Kelvin Hall, Glasgow Date: Saturday 3 October-Sunday 11 October Coverage: BBC Two, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website

A miscue on the black in the seventh frame sent Peter Ebdon out of the Grand Prix as China's Ding Junhui won 5-2.

Ebdon's misfortune allowed Ding to reach the semi-finals with a 77 break.

Mark Williams also took advantage of an error from his opponent to beat Robert Milkins 5-2, a similarly careless shot gifting the Welshman victory.

Earlier, Australian Neil Robertson easily defeated Joe Perry 5-1, while defending champion John Higgins beat Mark Allen by the same score.

Ding had the edge on Ebdon early in their quarter-final encounter, but the 39-year-old Englishman fought back to win the first frame and soon extended his lead to two.

But, two frames down, Ding pulled off a superb shot which swung the momentum his way, pocketing a red while splitting the pack with precision to leave himself on the black.

Ding went on to wrap up the third frame in style, then levelled before pressing on to take a 4-2 advantage.

Ebdon watched in horror as the cue ball jumped on the black in the seventh frame, allowing Ding to cruise home with a break almost entirely composed of pinks.

Williams, who saw off Stephen Hendry in a tie littered with mistakes on Thursday, was in slightly better form against Milkins but had to rely on the latter's misfortune to progress.

Williams' poor safety at the start of the third frame was a prime example as Milkins failed to make his opponent pay, offering the twice-world champion a route straight back into the frame which he gratefully exploited.

Milkins, 33, battled back to 4-2 and should have been confident of narrowing the gap when 65 points ahead in the seventh, but his subsequent miss, combined with helpfully-positioned balls, saw Williams through.

Perry took the opening frame of his encounter with Robertson courtesy of a break of 60 but, after only needing the brown to make it 2-0, he saw Robertson steal the frame and level.

Robertson then compiled two centuries either side of the mid-session break, ending the match with a run of 103.

Perry looked certain to reduce the deficit to 3-2 in the first frame after the mid-session interval, but Robertson stole it again following a superb positional shot on the final green.

Higgins, meanwhile, offered some advice to compatriot Stephen Hendry, who was woefully out of sorts in a 5-2 defeat by Mark Williams on Thursday.

"He doesn't really help himself, he locks himself away in his house and practises on his own. I've never done that and I don't think you can," insisted Higgins.

606: DEBATE

" It's great seeing Mark Williams back in the latter stages of tournaments "

"You think you're hitting the ball well but nobody misses a ball in practice if you're playing on your own, I don't think that's any indication of how well you're playing, so that's maybe something he'll have to sort out, but it's only him that can do it."

A 66 break in the opening frame against Allen suggested Higgins had kept his form, and he soon rattled into a 3-0 lead.

Allen battled back, clearing the colours to take frame four and knocking in a break of 73 in the next - but a missed red with the rest let Higgins back in to snatch the frame.

Higgins won frame seven with a single visit of 96 to finish the match.

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