Ronnie O’Sullivan reaches Tour Championship final as Rocket sees off tough challenge from Gary Wilson in 10-7 win
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN is through to the Tour Championship final.
The Rocket put on a resolute display as he beat Gary Wilson in Manchester.
O’Sullivan started the match well but was left scratching his head after letting Wilson back in to end the first session with four frames each.
In the first part of the evening session, Wilson looked to continue from where he left off as he won the ninth frame.
However, the world No.1 rocked back to win three frames on the trot with some stunning shots.
He had to overcome some misfortune after getting a kickback from the cue ball in the 9th before being punished for a push shot in the 10th.
Wilson even asked the referee Paul Collier to check the shot, but his sportsmanship move was refused.
The underdog then won frame 13 to close the gap to just one frame after O’Sullivan fouled at a crucial moment by potting the brown.
The world no.13 won the frame with a fantastic score 129.
Wilson then continued his good form into frame 14, taking advantage of O’Sullivan’s mistake to level the scores yet again at seven frames each.
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The Rocket won frame 16 with some calculated play as he snookered Wilson.
He was unable to play a good enough shot to stop O’Sullivan, who went on to retake the lead.
O’Sullivan raced to the finish line in frame 17 as he hit 129 to book his spot in the final.
Wilson was only able to seat down and watch on as his chances to progress faded before his eyes.
However, the underdog can hold his head high as he put the Rocket under more than enough pressure during the thrilling 17 frame match.
The final will be O’Sullivan’s 64th ranking of his career.
He will face either Mark Allen or Mark Williams in the final on Sunday, the other semi-final will take place on Saturday at 1pm.
After the win, O’Sullivan said that it was a “great match” but did admit that he felt like he had the “yips” recently.
He told ITV: “I hope it stays here for a long time and it was a great match to be a part of.
“I just tried really hard not to get down on myself and maybe two weeks ago I would have thrown the towel in.
“But I just kept going and got over the line.
“I know I am never going to stop tinkering, but I need to keep my head out of the horrible, murky world that I was once in.
“I have to put a lot of hard work in, I feel like I had the yips.
“Like I got scared to want to go and play and that it not a nice place to be.”
More to follow…