China's Ding shocked by Perry at Masters second round

China's Ding Junhui was shocked by English veteran Joe Perry 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Masters snooker tournament here on Friday.

Ding, ranked sixth in the world, lost five frames in a row, making it 5-1 with a break of 54 before losing the seventh frame without scoring a point.

Perry, who beat Ding in the first round match in 2015 for his only Masters win in eight previous appearancs, now faces Barry Hawkins on Saturday evening for a place in the final.

"I was not in form today," Ding said. "I don't feel good. That just happed to me. I want to play well, but I just can't find the form. Joe played very well. He is now a much better player than 10 year ago when I just turned professional."

World ninth-ranked Perry said, "It doesn't get much better than that. Ding is one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. We all know what he's capable of. I just felt like I controlled the match from start to finish, so that's a real feather in my cap.

"I came in here with no form. So it's nice to play with no expectations. I think I stole Neil Robertson's long game tonight because my long potting was the strongest part of my game. My safety was good. I kept control of the table."

Perry will take on last year's runner-up Barry Hawkins, who stunned world number one Mark Selby 6-3 in the day's another game.

English defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will face Marco Fu of Hong Kong, China, in the other semifinal on saturday. Endit