Click below to read about the afternoon session today in Shanghai as the second semi-final came to a conclusion:
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-5 Stephen Maguire
World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan is through to his third straight ranking event final with a thrilling victory against number two Stephen Maguire this afternoon.
Having shared the frames before the interval, frame five contained a terrific safety exchange before Maguire effectively won it with a great shot to snooker O’Sullivan behind the green, using the jaws of a pocket to do so.
O’Sullivan hit back by taking the next two frames with a 141 and a frame-winning break of 84 but Maguire was not finished yet as he hit back with a century of his own and another high break to move just one frame away from the match at 5-4.
Maguire looked to have the momentum at this stage and with two good chances to win the match it looked like O’Sullivan’s run would finally come to an end. Unfortunately for the Scot however, he could not take advantage and left O’Sullivan in to take the match to a deciding frame.
The momentum back with O’Sullivan, he was able to wrap things up with a terrific break of 145 to move into tomorrow’s final. Here he will be a heavy favourite against Ricky Walden to make it three ranking events in a row, an achievement currently only matched by Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.
Hopefully Walden can maintain the form that has taken him to the final and at least keep it respectable. Anything better would be a bonus, though I’m sure he won’t see it like that!
Stephen Maguire – Ronnie O’Sullivan 70(69)-36, 0-74(74), 44(44)-60, 63(36)-58(58), 72(42)-32(32), 0-141(141), 1-84(84), 101(101)-0, 76(76)-0, 25-101(87), 0-145(145)