Ronnie O’Sullivan has qualified for the final of the Champion of Champions tournament following a 6-3 victory over Sean Murphy 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.
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