<Li> John Higgins advanced to his first semi-final since his 2011 World Championship win by defeating Kyren Wilson 13--6 . With the score at 3--3 Wilson miscued and split his tip, leading to a 15 - minute tip replacement break . </Li> <Li> The defending champion Mark Selby beat the previous year's semi-finalist Marco Fu 13--3 with a session to spare . Selby's victory included a memorable 143 clearance which Stephen Hendry (commentating on the match for BBC) described as "one of the best (breaks) I've ever seen ." </Li> <Li> 2016 runner up Ding defeated O'Sullivan 13--10 in a high quality quarter - final . Ding went into a 3--0 lead but O'Sullivan fought back to level the first session at 4--4 . Ding dominated the second session and opened up a 10--6 overnight lead . O'Sullivan reduced his arrears to 8--10 and 10--12 in the third session before Ding clinched the match in frame 23 . </Li> <Li> O'Sullivan attempted a 147 maximum break in frame 20 of his quarter final with Ding . He ran out of position after potting the 13th red and had to take the pink instead of the black and made 146, which still ended up as the highest break of the championship . </Li>

What is the prize money for the snooker world championship