The Wuhan Open prospects of Mark Allen and Aaron Hill were ended at the quarter-final stage on Friday.
Allen lost 5-2 to Ali Carter, while Hill, playing in his first-ever ranking quarter-final lost a deciding frame to Wu Yize of China.
The Antrim man could have knocked Ronnie O'Sullivan off the top of the world rankings if he went on to win the tournament, but he came up short against the Londoner.
He had recovered from 2-0 down to level the match with a break of 63, but Carter regained control after runs of 77 and 52.
Another half-century break helped see him over the line to set up a semi-final against Lyu Haotian, who beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-1
O'Sullivan – who last reached the semi-finals of a ranking event when he won his seventh world title in 2022 – paid for a slow start as Lyu moved into a 4-0 lead after two half-century breaks.
Although O'Sullivan came out after the interval with a clearance of 101, there was not to be a dramatic comeback as Lyu took the sixth frame 75-30 to secure the biggest win of his career.
Cork's Hill (21) made a break of 131 in the fourth frame to open up a 3-1 lead in his quarter-final but Wu mounted a comeback to level at 3-3, with clearances of 67 and 104 eventually securing the 19-year-old's place in the semi-finals.
He will play Judd Trump, who continued his impressive run with a 5-0 win over Tom Ford.
After winning last week's English Open, Trump was a late arrival in Wuhan but has soon kicked into top gear again.
The world number four made breaks of 67 and 118 in another ruthless display to sweep past Ford and into his 56th career ranking semi-final.
