John Higgins carries his Welsh Open title defence into semi-final

John Higgins carried his defence of the Welsh Open title at Newport into the semi-finals with a 5-3 win over Matthew Stevens. Ali Carter, a 5-2 winner over Ding Junhui, will oppose the world No1 on Saturday afternoon in a repeat of last year's final. The evening semi-final will bring together Stephen Maguire, who overcame Mark Williams, winner of the German Masters this month, and Mark Selby. "I've underachieved in the last couple of years," said Maguire, the world No6. Williams agreed: "A lot of the time he beats himself up. If he sorts that out he'll win tournaments." Selby, twice Masters champion but with the 2008 Welsh Open his sole ranking title, led Graeme Dott 4-1 and beat him 5-3. Dott was unimpressed that his run to the last eight deprives Ronnie O'Sullivan of ninth place in the rankings: "The way Ronnie's playing that's nothing to brag about," he said.