BIRTHDAY boy Ronnie O’Sullivan was given two extra presents by Anthony McGill as he made the last four of the Coral UK Championship.

The Rocket, who turned 39 today, wasn’t in the scintillating form that saw him hit a Barbican 147 last night, but didn’t need to be as he eased past his Scottish opponent 6-4.

The match turned on two pivotal McGill misses after the pair were locked together at 3-3. O’Sullivan gave his opponent a gilt edged opportunity, slapping his thigh in frustration after missing a black on a break of 57, but McGill failed to pot the simplest of yellows.

Then, in the very next frame, he left a green hanging over the pocket - allowing O’Sullivan to swarm in and clear up.

McGill should have been 5-3 ahead but found himself two behind and, despite showing a great deal of character to reduce the deficit with a break of 103, the five-time World Champion produced 97 to book a semi-final berth with Stuart Bingham.

O’Sullivan, who trailed 2-0 early on, said: “It was just a tough game. It was one of those games where he got off to a good start and I managed to peg him back.

“He has missed a couple of game balls and I feel like he was the better player, even though I scored a few big breaks. I felt like he was more ready to win that match than me.

“I think it was just experience that got me through. I just felt I was struggling. There were so many close frames that could have gone either way.

“My type of game is to dominate and win frames in one visit and I just felt I wasn’t allowed to do that. He kept me in my place a lot of the time.

“It was important for me to win that (the final frame) in one visit.”

O’Sullivan's attentions must now turn to Bingham - the man who knocked him out of the tournament on his birthday 12 months ago - as he continues his quest for a fifth UK title.

Of the Essex potter, he said: “Stuart is playing well all the time now. I am in for a hard game. He won’t let me have it my own way and I will try to do the same.

“I am pleased to be in the semis. Obviously, I am here to win. I need to find a little bit of spark. If I can find the form I had in Coventry then I will be happier.

“I am just competing at the moment. Sometimes you have to do that. You can’t win every tournament you play in but I will do my best.”

He added: “It has been a long tournament, in a way. It’s normally eight or nine days but I have been here ten or 11 days already so it feels like a long event and we are only at the semi-final stage.

“At the semi-finals, there is no point looking beyond that match because there’s four top players in the semi-finals and it is the man who probably has the best form that will will this event.”

McGill, who has propelled himself into the top 32 in the rankings following a tournament that saw him knock out boyhood idol John Higgins, said: “The better player won. I was rubbish. I got so many chances and just was unable to concentrate. I felt absolutely fine and loved being out there.

“But I kept taking my eye off stupid balls. I didn’t deserve it.”

He added: “I didn’t feel like ‘Oh my God, I’m playing Ronnie O’Sullivan’. I really enjoyed it. It was just balls where I thought ‘I can’t miss’ and I was thinking about the next shot.

“You can’t keep getting away with it. I was doing the same against John and you are going to get found out sooner or later.

“I certainly had the chances to be 4-0 up and, at 2-2, I had let him off the hook.”