Welsh Open snooker results: Kyren Wilson wins deciding frame to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan

Wilson was never ahead in the match until taking the deciding frame, having fought back from 2-0, 3-1, 4-2 and 5-4 down in a demonstration of the determination which has been his calling card ever since he joined the game's elite.

Completing the Houdini act with a gutsy 59 break to win 6-5, it's easy to wonder if this is the result which helps the 28-year-old complete his graduation to the very top of the sport and he looks a key contender at the Crucible in April.

Before that comes his first ranking final since he won last year's German Masters, one week on from a semi-final defeat to the red-hot Neil Robertson in the World Grand Prix. As he clenched his fist after the final red dropped, it was clear how much this meant to him.

O'Sullivan was sensational on Friday, even by his own standards, as he dismissed Mark Selby with snooker of the very highest order. When he took the first two frames here, and led 3-1 at the interval thanks to a break of 100, everything looked in place for a similarly dominant victory.

And yet Wilson would not allow that to happen, clinging to the coattails of the game's greatest player and finally levelling the scores at 4-4 with a 136 break O'Sullivan himself would have been proud of.

The Rocket edged back ahead with an 81 break which put him on the brink of the final, but an edgy tenth frame went to Wilson and the Kettering potter never looked like losing the decider.

Although it took him two bites of the cherry, Wilson capitalised on another O'Sullivan error with a half-century which booked his place in the final, where he'll face either Shaun Murphy.

"I'm not trying to enjoy it - I am enjoying it!" said Wilson. "You can't go too far, you obviously need to stay in the zone, but I'm just trying to have fun at the same time."

Asked what he made of the second semi-final, Wilson said: "I'll be chilling out in the spa, won't be watching too much of it."

O'Sullivan felt that he was lucky to take the game the distance, despite ultimately surrendering the lead on more than one occasion and having been long odds-on at the interval.

"Just missed so many balls today - I think I missed three blacks off the spot," confessed O'Sullivan. "You can't win matches if you're missing them types of balls.

"No complaints with the table. (I did) well to get as far as I did really. It was a tough match, it'd be nice to come out in victory today but it wasn't meant to be."

Murphy saved his best until last in beating Yan Bingtao 6-5, finally overcoming his teenage opponent with a break of 109 in the deciding frame.

Murphy, into his second Welsh Open final, 14 years after losing out 9-4 to Stephen Lee, clawed back to 2-2 after losing the opening two frames.

The 37-year-old won a 50-minute sixth frame to lead 4-2 before Bingtao won three on the trot to get within touching distance of victory.

But Murphy held his nerve to level it up again with a run of 61 and produced his best snooker in the deciding frame to clinch victory.