World Grand Prix snooker LIVE - Zhao Xintong beats Chris Wakelin for semi-final spot, Ali Carter loses to Zhou Yuelong

Zhao Xintong was not at his best, but he did enough to hold off a fightback from Chris Wakelin to book his spot in the World Grand Prix semi-final.

Wakelin showed plenty of grit and tenacity to rally back from 4-1 down to force a decider, with breaks of 91, 76 and 118 in the second half of the match, but realistically, he lost it before the interval.

He could have been 4-0 up against an out-of-sorts world champion after four frames, but he was too error-strewn and allowed Zhao in too many times, as the 28-year-old stumbled into a 4-1 lead.

However, after Chris pulled level with three excellent frames, the momentum was back with Zhao in the decider, as he overcame the Englishman to book a semi-final with comatriot Xiao Guodong.

Elsewhere, Ali Carter scored three successive 88 breaks to surge into a 4-3 lead from 3-1 down against Zhou Yuelong on table two, in search of the final semi-final spot.

However, like in the match between Zhao and Wakelin, it was the home player Zhou who pipped the decider to reach the last four, where he will play Zhang Anda in what is an all-Chinese last four in Hong Kong.

It has also gone to a decider between Ali Carter and Zhou Yuelong!

That's that!

Despite his spirited comeback, Wakelin exits as Zhao reaches the semi-final!

This is tactical warfare.

Chris is still chasing the snooker.

"This would be simply extraordinary!" Yates says on TNT Sports commentary, analysing Chris' chances of nicking this frame as he cuts the deficit to 39 before playing a fantastic snooker.

But the world champion escapes, and Chris is back to the drawing board.

A decent effort from Chris to roll the white up behind the pink, and he earns a free ball as Zhao misses the snooker.

70 points the difference, 51 at the table.

"A lost cause", says TNT Sports commentator Phil Yates, and he might be right, as Chris misses his first attempt at a red to the bottom left...but Zhao misses it as well!

Last chance saloon for Chris?

The breakthrough for Zhao!

He has run away with this frame after a spirited effort from Chris in the previous frames.

Zhao nips a wonderful long red from the edge of the pack to the top right pocket, but he's left himself caught behind the black, which he tucks up behind even further for the snooker.

Chris' run breaks down and now Zhao can do something. He puts together a nice little run, and then rolls the cue ball up behind the brown along the top rail.

A lovely cross double from Chris gets this decider underway, and he's on the yellow.

He sends it down, and what a chance this could be! But has he gone too low?

Ali Carter has produced THREE consecutive breaks of 88 to rally from 3-1 down to lead Zhou Yuelong 4-3!

There's the handshake ahead of frame nine.

And off we go - winner takes all!

Excellent, Chris. He nails the first century break of the match (118) to complete the comeback and force a deciding frame.

From 4-1 down, he has made sure not to throw this opportunity away in what is a big match for him in terms of the rankings.

Chris finds himself in a bit of a pickle with the cue ball firmly in among the pack of reds, but he delicately rolls a red into the bottom right to keep his run going.

Things on the table are much clearer now, with the pink off its spot and all reds available.

After a tense start to the eighth frame, Chris has started to send down some reds and blacks for a decent lead, and is well on his way to forcing a deciding frame. The balls are set up nicely!

Watch the rest of the action unfold on TNT Sports 3 and discovery+.

Ali Carter has pulled level, as both Englishmen battle back against their Chinese counterparts in Hong Kong!

Ali has registered successive 88 breaks!

Chris Wakelin is rallying back!

He cuts Zhao's lead from 4-1 to 4-3 with a break of 76, and is now two frames away from a spot in the semi-final.

World champion Zhao has not been at his best, whereas Chris is in resurgent form and has started ticking nicely after the interval.

So far, so good for Chris.

TNT Sports commentator Phil Yates says Wakelin "seems to have found his touch, in the nick of time".

That is a fair assumption, as he has spent nearly all of the time at the table in the last two frames.

It's snookers required after sending home frame ball.

Chris is in a good position to cut Zhao's lead to one.

He's slowly building a decent lead, picking off the easy reds, followed by the black each time. The table looks in pretty good shape, too, but he has work to do to nudge apart five reds clustered behind the pink.