 In the quarter @-@ finals , O 'Sullivan defeated Hicks 5 – 1 in a match in which Hicks made a few errors . After the match , O 'Sullivan attributed his success to his mentor Reardon . Maguire made three consecutive century breaks from 2 – 0 up to whitewash Hamilton 5 – 0 , setting up a semi @-@ final clash with O 'Sullivan . Maguire won the first two frames on the black , the second after trailing 0 – 74 and requiring two snookers . Maguire said that he played brilliant , like in practice , and Hamilton said his opponent was a " proper talent " . Higgins defeated Hendry 5 – 2 in a low @-@ quality match in which Higgins won the first three frames with a high break of 30 . Hendry won the next two with breaks of 66 and 58 , but Higgins closed the match with breaks of 85 and 79 . Higgins said he was willing to risk a possible fine by attending to his wife if she gave birth . Murphy beat fellow qualifier Hawkins 5 – 3 to reach his first ranking semi @-@ final , with Higgins as the opponent . 
