Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump both crashed out of the World Snooker Championship on an extraordinary day of quarter-final action at the Crucible.
The two top-ranked players had been odds-on to set up a mouth-watering last-four clash but were dumped out by qualifiers Stuart Bingham and Jak Jones respectively.
Coupled with David Gilbert's win over Stephen Maguire, it means three qualifiers have reached the semi-finals for the first time since the first year the tournament was staged at the Crucible in 1977.
O'Sullivan's defeat means he has been succeeded as world number one by Mark Allen, who was beaten in the quarter-finals by John Higgins. Antrim man Allen becomes the first Irish player to top the rankings.
Bingham, who went all the way to the title in 2015 but has since lost his place in the world's top 16, pulled away from an increasingly agitated O'Sullivan, reeling off the final three frames to seal a nerve-jangling 13-10 win.
O'Sullivan and Bingham had started their concluding session tied together at 8-8, and shared the first two frames of the evening in their best-of-25 frame encounter.
O’Sullivan nudged in front with a break of 136 in the first frame of the evening but grew increasingly erratic, and punched the table in frustration after missing a red in the 21st frame, which also involved the incident with the crowd.
Bingham produced a nerveless break of 104 to go one frame from victory, then held on in the next despite missing a pink to the middle that had given O’Sullivan a glimmer of hope.
O'Sullivan had earlier claimed some referees "have it in for me" after a bizarre incident midway through the second session.
O'Sullivan was initially praised for an act of sportsmanship after seeming to play safe rather than opting to pot a red close to the black because he believed the black had not been spotted correctly.
The world number one repeatedly asked referee Desislava Bozhilova to replace the ball because he believed it was rolling fractionally off its spot, incorrectly giving him an opportunity to pot it.
O'Sullivan, who was 14 points behind at the point and on a break of 20, eventually lost the frame but was hailed for his gesture, with former world champion Neil Robertson, commentating on the BBC, calling it "the greatest bit of sportsmanship I've ever seen".
However O'Sullivan provided a different take on the incident, telling Eurosport: "To be honest with you, some of the refs, I think they've got it in for me, so I just wanted to prove to her that she got it wrong.
"I didn't feel good about potting the ball after that, but I just wanted to make the point. The point was made. I'm not that hungry to win it in that way, so once the principle's been made I can sleep at night."
O'Sullivan subsequently told Bozhilova to "chill" after an incident in which she asked him to resume playing while he waited for some spectators to retake their seats in the arena.
Asked about the incidents afterwards, O’Sullivan changed his tune, insisting: "I won’t be commenting on players or referees, it’s not worth it.
"I’ll keep silent on that sort of stuff. I won’t comment on players and I won’t comment on referees. I just leave it as it is. My life’s too good and I don’t need the hassle."
"I wasn't going to playing in this one until a new sponsor came along, and they twisted my arm"
O’Sullivan, who missed the chance to become the first eight-time world champion of the modern era, shrugged off the nature of his defeat and insisted he had only played in the tournament at the behest of a new sponsor.
"I quite enjoyed it," said O’Sullivan. "I like the fight. A lot of the time I haven’t had the fight. It’s just about controlling that sort of temper. I used to get angry and it would last for 20 minutes but now I can pretty much delete it and it doesn’t affect my performance.
"Rule number is just to enjoy what you do. I wasn’t going to playing in this one until a new sponsor came along, and they twisted my arm."
Bingham, who entered the tournament in real danger of dropping out of the world’s top 32, relished his chance to join the illustrious list of multiple world champions after sealing an unlikely last-four clash with fellow qualifier Jak Jones.
"Everyone will be looking at the draw thinking, 'this is my chance to be world champion’," said Bingham.
"I can’t take anything for granted and though I’m the only one (left) to have got my hands on that trophy, I don’t know if it’ll count for much.
"It would mean everything. There aren’t many people who have won it twice and it would maybe mean more second time around, because the first time it was all new, but I’ve got the chance to actually do it again.
"The last two seasons have not been great. I was out of the top 32 and I played with no expectations. I’ve gone toe to toe with the best player ever and I’ve come out on top."
Bozhilova, 31, has refereed on the professional tour for 12 years, and officiated in the respective Masters and UK Championship finals in 2022.
The WST refuted O'Sullivan's allegations and insisted Bozhilova acted correctly throughout the incident.
Earlier, Trump was punished for an error-strewn display by Jones, the world number 44, who turned an 8-8 overnight tie into a 13-9 win and reach the last four for the first time.
Trump offered no excuses after being lured into a war of attrition by his opponent, who is ranked second slowest of those who booked a place in this year's tournament proper.
"I felt like I had a lot of chances and I didn't take them," said Trump. "I had more than enough chances today to win, so I only have myself to blame.
"A lot of the frames were quite slow and I got bogged down. His pace definitely affected me, but that's not his fault. I just needed to get in and clear up every time, and I didn't do that."
Jones, who reached the Crucible quarter-final on his debut last year, is now two more victories away from becoming only the third qualifier to win the famous title after Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005.
The Welshman more than held his own in the first two sessions and capitalised on his opponent's errors when they resumed on Wednesday, to wrest control.
Trump's poor performance was encapsulated by a missed pink off its spot in the 20th frame, letting Jones in for an impressive break of 61 that put clear air between the pair at 11-9.
A miss on an even easier yellow in the next sent Jones one frame from victory, and when Trump went in-off potting a red in the 22nd frame, Jones responded with a nerveless 106 clearance to finish.
Jones, who had never previously reached a ranking semi-final, defended his pace of play and said he detected early in the game that Trump, a clear favourite with five ranking titles to his name this season alone, was out of sorts.
"I thought Judd struggled quite a bit," said Jones. "He started off with a century, just looking like typical Judd, but after I went in 3-1 at the interval I thought he was playing really slow.
"He wasn't the fast-flowing aggressive player that he usually is. I noticed it from the beginning and it kind of surprised me, and I took advantage."
Jones, who will face Bingham in the last four, now faces an even bigger task of convincing his mum Debbie to watch him play live for the first time.
Despite ferrying her son to matches since he first turned professional at the age of 16, she is yet to watch him play either live or on TV, and Jones does not believe the unique occasion of a Crucible semi-final will change her mind.
"She won't even watch me on the TV," said Jones. "At home now when I'm playing she'll be doing the ironing or cleaning the house, that's what she likes to do to keep herself occupied.
"She doesn't like watching me, she pretends it's not happening and waits for my dad to call her with the result. A Crucible semi-final is obviously a different matter and maybe she will come up, but she won't come into the arena."
David Gilbert capped a remarkable career resurgence as he wrapped up a 13-8 win over Stephen Maguire to seal a place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2019.
Gilbert will take on Kyren Wilson next after the 12th seed polished off a 13-8 win over John Higgins.
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