Ronnie O'Sullivan books ticket to Champion of Champions final after routine win over Fan Zhengyi
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Updated 05/11/2022 at 23:02 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan has gotten the better of Fan Zhengyi after the 21-year-old beat him at the European Masters final earlier this year. In this match-up, O'Sullivan had a stroke of unprecedented luck to start him off, but he routinely showed that he was in a different class, beating Fan 6-2 in the end. The Rocket will face off against Judd Trump, who is looking to defend his title from last year.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan booked his ticket to the Champion of Champions final, beating Fan Zhengyi 6-2 at the University of Bolton Stadium.
Judd Trump, who O'Sullivan will take on in the final, beat Mark Selby 6-3 to continue his title defence on Friday evening.
O'Sullivan took the first two frames with ease, the first coming from an unbelievable fluke after he accidentally smashed a black against the jaws of the bottom left pocket, which somehow slid across the edge of the table and landed in the opposite corner pocket.
He continued to clear the table, quickly cutting down the minuscule lead Fan started with and ending the frame by sinking a red with his left hand to finish it off for an 89.
It had seemed that Fan's nerves were yet to be settled in the second frame after he missed an easy black, handing his opponent a gift. The Rocket quickly finished the frame with 117, his 42nd career century, and he was up 2-0 in a flash.
The third frame saw Fan get into a rhythm before he attempted a long red that he missed. O'Sullivan, however, couldn't find an opening, allowing Fan back to the table to finish the business.
The fourth frame saw a bit more back and forth between the two players, but O'Sullivan continued to show his class, clearing the reds to a total of 86 to go up 3-1.
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After the break, it continued to be the O'Sullivan show. Fan attempted some tricks, including a try at landing a tough red to a corner pocket, but he missed, leaving the 46-year-old to once again clear the table and take a three-frame lead.
In the sixth frame, Fan once again attempted a difficult shot, this time sinking the long red to the bottom right. When O'Sullivan got a chance at the table, he managed to force Fan into an error, with the 21-year-old hitting a red full on. It meant that once again, his lead was snatched away from him as he went down 5-1.
In what he probably hoped to be the final frame, O'Sullivan uncharacteristically missed a green and a blue allowing Fan to hit 123 and cut the lead down to 5-2.
Despite the small blip in the previous frame, O'Sullivan was able to get back on track who quickly goes up by 22. When Fan arrived back to the table, he missed an easy red, and at the point the writing was on the wall. The crowd were cheering and clapping for the Rocket as he took the eighth frame with a break of 75 to win the semi-final match-up, a feat that he was unable to accomplish against Fan at the European Masters final earlier in the year.
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