The "Rocket" Ronnie O'Sullivan will take on Graeme Dott in the semifinals of the 2007 China Open snooker tournament after eliminating Marco Fu of Hong Kong, China, 5-3 here on Friday.

The former Asian champion Fu led 3-2 and was on a break of 57 when he split a cluster of four reds in potting the pink but somehow was left without a straight-forward pot.

"It's strange I'm winning because I'm playing so poorly. I made some silly mistakes and Marco looked dangerous early on," said O'Sullivan.

His attempted double missed its target and O'Sullivan knocked in a superb long red to set up a dazzling 63 clearance.

Fu said: "Frame six was the turning point. I couldn't believe I didn't get on a red after potting the pink."

The "Rocket" rattled in 87 and 79 to seal victory, adding to his earlier runs of 110 and 62.

"Ronnie's the best player in the world and he played well after that." added Fu.

In the previous match, trailing 2-0 after Higgins had opened with 79 and 80, Dott took a scrappy third to pull himself back and then produced a burst of high-quality break-building.

"It was a tough match to play because we're good friends, but we were both trying hard to win," said Dott.

He levelled at 2-2 with an 84 and made it one way traffic as the former world champion required just three visits to secure victory with runs of 97, 106 and a 102.

"I played well earlier this season, and I think I'm playing a lot better today. I didn't miss a ball against John," added Dott.

Dott won 17-11 on his way to the world title and O'Sullivan will be determined to gain revenge as he chases his first ranking title in two years.

"Tomorrow should be a classic match. Ronnie's a great player, but when I beat him at the Crucible last year it was probably the best I've ever played," said Dott, who was looking forward to the encounter.

Janie Cope easily past Shaun Murphy 5-0 to set a semifinal tie with Barry Hawkins, who fought nine frames to beat Ken Dohorty 5-4.