Ronnie O'Sullivan beat defending champion Shaun Murphy 6-3 to book his place in the final of the Champion of Champions tournament at the Ricoh Arena.
The five-time world champion made back-to-back century breaks in the sixth and seventh frames to take control of his match against the defending champion to secure his place in the final.
Murphy had beaten O'Sullivan in the final of the competition last year, but O'Sullivan won the third and fourth frames to build up a 3-1 lead with breaks of 64 and 82.
The match was in the balance at 3-2 after Murphy won the fifth but O'Sullivan capitalised on an early miss on the blue in the sixth by his opponent and produced an impressive break of 129 to take a two-frame lead.
He followed that up with a break of 127 to take a 5-2 lead.
Murphy won the eighth frame 102-0, but in the ninth, 42-year-old O'Sullivan secured his place in the final with breaks of 65 and 59 despite a mis-cue when he hit the white over the black and into the pocket.
O'Sullivan will face either Mark Allen or Kyren Wilson in the final on Sunday.
Results and schedule
- During the group stage, there are two 'semi-finals' over best of seven legs in the afternoon; the two winners then play for a semi-final place over best of 11 in the evening
Monday November 5
- Shaun Murphy 4-2 Jimmy Robertson
- Ding Junhui 4-2 Michael Georgiou
- Shaun Murphy 6-3 Ding Junhui
Tuesday November 6
- John Higgins 4-3 Ryan Day
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2 Stuart Bingham
- John Higgins 3-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Wednesday November 7
- Mark Williams 1-4 Kyren Wilson
- Judd Trump 4-1 Luca Brecel
- Kyren Wilson 6-1 Judd Trump
Thursday November 8
- Mark Selby 3-4 Neil Robertson
- Barry Hawkins 2-4 Mark Allen
- Mark Allen 6-1 Neil Robertson
Friday November 9
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Shaun Murphy
Saturday November 10
- Mark Allen v Kyren Wilson (best of 11)
Sunday November 11
- Final (best of 19)
