World Snooker Championship 2016 Results: Semi-Final Scores, Updated Schedule

Ding Junhui dominated Alan McManus during the first session of the 2016 World Snooker Championship semi-finals on Thursday, opening up a 6-2 lead.

The 29-year-old recorded an incredible four centuries, just one short of the semi-final record, which is currently shared by Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy, per Matt from Pro Snooker Blog. With at least 11 frames still to play, Ding seems bound to break it.

McManus spent most of the afternoon in his seat but did manage to steal two frames toward the end of the session to give himself a chance. 

During a scrappy evening session, Mark Selby took a 5-3 lead against Marco Fu.

Here’s a look at the results for Thursday, along with Friday's schedule:

Evening Recap

Selby and Fu played out a sloppy first session on Thursday, with the former champion opening up a two-frame lead heading into Friday's action.

Neither player managed a century break, as the two spent much of the session exchanging safeties and snookers. Per World Snooker, it led to some spectacular moments, including this remarkable fluke:

In the same frame, Fu produced arguably the best shot of the tournament so far, an incredible escape off four cushions:

The Jester from Leicester took the early lead, winning the first three frames and putting up breaks of 56 and 63 along the way. Fu pulled one back before the mid-session interval with a break of 72, and he pulled within a single frame after a lengthy safety battle in the next frame. A high break of 89 followed, but Selby would end the night on a winning note, working a patient 69 to restore his two-frame lead.

Fu and Selby are both renowned for their fantastic positional play, and it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to see these two involved in a slow, tense battle. Neither will play many poor safeties over the course of this match, and raw break-building ability will likely decide the winner of this one.

Afternoon Recap

Ding has been in superb form of late but took it to another level against McManus, opening up a four-frame lead after the first session.

He started the match with a century break and won the first five frames in a row, making three centuries in the process and a high break of 131.

His long-potting in particular was excellent, as evidenced by this shot, shared by World Snooker:

Ding spent most of the afternoon on the front foot and barely had to show his ability as a safety player, with McManus not getting much time on the table. The Scotsman at one point didn’t make a pot for over half an hour.

World Snooker would love to have known what he said when Ding made another smart pot to the middle pocket:

McManus got himself on the board late in the session, winning two scrappy frames with some smart safety play before Ding ended the session with another century, scoring 128.

Football representative Christopher Atkins wondered whether his recent struggles led to his strong form at the Crucible:

Ding entered this year’s World Championship in arguably the worst form of his career, needing to go through qualifiers after falling out of the top 16. The Star of the East, who won five ranking events in the 2013-14 season, hasn’t won a single ranking event since the start of the 2014-15 campaign.

But after a strong showing during the qualifiers, Ding seems to have rediscovered his best form and is poised to qualify for his first Crucible final. Ding remains the favourite to become the first Asian player to become world champion, although an all-Chinese final against Hong Kong’s Fu is still possible.