World Open snooker: Betting & odds update as favourite Ding Junhui sets up final with Kyren Wilson

Snooker

Sat September 23, 2017 · 7y ago

World Open favourite Ding Junhui set up a final with Kyren Wilson following a hard-fought victory over Luca Brecel.

The Chinese star thrilled the home fans once again in Yushan with top breaks of 121, 91, 80 and 61 as he booked his place in his 18th career ranking final.

Ding has won five of his 12 ranking titles in China and will start as Sky Bet's 1/2 favourite to increase that tally to six and scoop the top prize of £150,000, which would also help him rise to number two in the world.

Brecel will be disappointed to miss out on a second ranking title of the season having won the China Championship last month but it's yet another impressive tournament for the Belgian Bullet.

Ding told the World Snooker website: "I played well to go 3-1 up. He then began to perform and showed why he is a different and improved player now. It came back to 3-3 very quickly and even when I was 5-3 up he was playing well. I think I produced some of my best safety to outplay him in the tactical side of the game and he left me some easy chances to get over the line.

"Kyren Wilson is an excellent up and coming player. I will have to play my best to win tomorrow. It’s been a while since I won my last ranking title at the 2016 Shanghai Masters, so I’ll give it everything to lift the trophy."

Earlier in the day, Wilson had edged out Mark Allen 6-5 following a nervy final-frame decider in Yushan but he's the 6/4 underdog with Sky Bet to defeat the home hero on Sunday.

Wilson, who scored 503 unanswered points during his quarter-final victory over Mark Williams on Friday, established an early 2-1 lead but the first century break of the match, a 103, drew Allen level at the interval.

After it, Wilson nudged ahead 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4 but each time Allen responded - a 94 in the 10th frame forcing a decider.

That frame came down largely to a missed blue by Allen which let in his opponent on the final red and he made no mistake from there.

"My nerves are gone I think," said the victor on the official World Snooker website. "Mark is such a good player, he has so much bottle. I didn’t expect him to miss that blue in the decider. To come through that in the end is very pleasing.

"It is so hard to win a tournament let alone win the final. I will have another tough game against Ding and Luca, but I’m starting to like it here on this side of the world."

Should Wilson win the title on Sunday, the £150,000 prize would be the biggest payday of his career.