Champion of Champions Day 4

Ronnie O’Sullivan nicked the last place in the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions with an enthralling 6-5 victory over Ding Junhui. The Chinese, who has won the last three full ranking events, was ahead for the entire of the match but World Champion O’Sullivan showed his class to steal the win at the very end of the match.

Image: Monique Limbos

A clinical Ding raced to a 3-0 lead, taking full advantage of a number of uncharacteristic O’Sullivan mistakes in the early stages but The Rocket managed to snatch the last frame before the interval to trail by just 3-1. He then made it 3-2 with a top break of 63 in the fifth but Ding stretched his lead by taking the sixth on the colours. A run of 98 from O’Sullivan then made it 4-3 but Ding responded with a break of 91 in the next. But Ronnie was not ready to give up and took the next two to force a decider.

O’Sullivan raced to a 63-0 lead before running aground and then Ding made a break of 50. Ding was then first to twitch in the ensuing safety battle and left the frame a O’Sullivan’s mercy but he missed a tricky final blue which was frame ball. Ding then missed two attempts at it, eventually leaving it on, allowing O’Sullivan to secure the win.

Ronnie’s afternoon session match couldn’t have been any different as he swept aside six-reds World Champion Mark Davis 4-0. He made breaks of 69, 54, 101 and 130, the tournament’s highest so far, to take the match in less than 50 minutes.

Ding had earlier overcome 2012 Australian Goldfields champion Barry Hawkins 4-2. Ding, current holder of the PTC Grand Finals, Shanghai Masters, Indian Open and International Championship titles, took the opener with a top run of 63 but Hawkins won a scrappy second which lasted 55 minutes. Ding edged back in front with a 67 but the World Championship runner-up remained in touch thanks to a 76 in the fourth. But Ding stepped on the accelerator to secure the win thanks to breaks of 104 and 61 in the next two frames.

The best-of-11 semi-finals take place tomorrow, with Mark Selby taking on Stuart Bingham at 1pm and then the mouth-watering clash between O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson from 7pm.