Ronnie O'Sullivan defeats Kyren Wilson to reach the Shanghai Masters final
Ronnie O'Sullivan's winning start to his season continued as he booked his place in the final of the Shanghai Masters.
The Rocket, who is competing for the first time since the World Championship, took a narrow 5-4 lead into the interval of his semi-final clash with Kyren Wilson but then took full control to win five of the next seven frames.
Wilson headed into the game on a remarkable run of 19 consecutive match wins having claimed back-to-back titles at the Paul Hunter Classic and Six Red World Championship - but he came up short against O'Sullivan.
It was the Warrior who flew out of the traps with breaks of 62 and 75 to move 2-0 up. However, the defending champion responded swiftly by winning three frames on the bounce, including a sublime 135 break to move 3-2 ahead.
There was drama in the sixth frame, where Wilson looked to have the balls at his mercy before missing a straightforward red on 66. O’Sullivan punished that error with a sensational clearance of 49, depositing a tough black with the rest to move 4-2 up.
Wilson hit back with consecutive frames to level, but it was O’Sullivan who took the ninth to carry his 5-4 advantage into this evening.
After the interval, the Kettering man took two of the next three frames - either side of O'Sullivan's break of 83 - to level matters at 6-6.
But the Romford potter won the next four frames on the spin, including breaks of 88, 60 and 84.
O'Sullivan is looking to defend his title this week and will now meet the winner of the second semi-final between Ding Junhui and Barry Hawkins.
On the prospect of facing Ding, O'Sullivan told World Snooker: “I’d really enjoy it.
“It would be fantastic to play Ding. I have always enjoyed having the crowd against me. It has always spurred me on to be a party pooper. Especially when I played Stephen Hendry in Scotland or Ken Doherty in Ireland. You get psyched up for it because you feel like you aren’t just playing against your opponent. You are also playing against the crowd.
“I’d love to have more battles with Kyren. He is a great competitor and a great guy. He has some of the qualities that the older generation have. He loves the sport, gives it everything and pays attention to detail.”
A disappointed Wilson added: “It was a really scrappy and poor match.
"Ronnie didn’t play to his usual best. That was probably his C game. It was nice to see him try hard. In the past he might have thrown the towel in.
"It is probably testament to my own ability that he feels like he has got to try as I am one of the young guns coming through. However, you have to take your opportunities and I didn’t.”