Veteran Peter Ebdon is still firmly in the hunt for a first ranking-event victory in six years after advancing into the semi-final at the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany.

World champion back in 2002, Ebdon has not grabbed a ranking tournament win since the 2012 China Open, where he downed Stephen Maguire 10-9 in a nail-biter. That was the ninth ranking success of his career and the 47-year-old could seal number ten in Furth on Sunday evening.

Ebdon didn’t drop a frame in wins over Ben Jones and Andrea Ploner on Saturday afternoon, before getting the best of Mark King in an entertaining clash. An 80 break got Ebdon off to a perfect start but King dug in having gone 0-2 down and levelled the match.

Ebdon nicked frame five on the black and duly compiled an 84 break to take the match. In the last-16 on Sunday morning it was much more straightforward as Ebdon downed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh with another 4-0 whitewash, for the loss of just 64 points. An 88 break was the highlight for the veteran, giving him a chance to beat Lee Walker 4-1 in the quarter-final.

Semi-finals

Scott Donaldson vs Peter Ebdon

Kyren Wilson vs Peter Lines