Rocket and Whirlwind set for showdown

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN set up a mouth-watering semi-final with his fellow crowd-pleaser Jimmy White.

O’Sullivan, the champion at Wembley ten years ago, fired in a string of sizeable breaks after falling 2-1 behind to Ding, who at 17 had become the youngest-ever Masters quarter-finalist.

The world champion admitted his 6-2 victory was more comfortable than he might have expected against a player he clearly rates highly.