Brilliant Brecel in prime position to nail final berth

Semi-finals
Eurosport 1, 7am & 12.30pm Monday

Luca Brecel and Li Hang, who have been 200-1 and 1,000-1 shots respectively for the China Championship, will clash in the second semi-final in Guangzhou on Monday after both pulled off huge upsets on Sunday.

Brecel fought back from 4-1 down to pip Ronnie O'Sullivan with the help of breaks of 110 and 103, while Li found a way back from 3-0 down to defeat Mark Williams 5-3 with runs of 66, 47 and 103.

Li, 26, has also seen off Neil Robertson, Michael White and Matthew Stevens, but while the homeland player has looked a pretty solid customer for a few seasons now, the form of Brecel's 5-2 second-round victory over Marco Fu suggests the Belgian may have his measure.

The sport retains hopes that Brecel can be a future star and it would be a little disappointing were the 22-year-old to come up short in the last four.

Shaun Murphy, 28-1 ante-post, and Ali Carter will contest the first semi and the Magician looks the right favourite after solid displays in ousting Stephen Maguire 5-0 and Zhou Yuelong 5-2.

The meaningful rounds of the Paul Hunter Classic start in Furth, Germany, on Friday when Mark Selby is set to defend his title.

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