Luca Brecel squeezes past Neil Robertson to set up Ronnie O'Sullivan clash in final of Shanghai Masters
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Published 16/09/2023 at 15:31 GMT
Luca Brecel and Ronnie O'Sullivan will meet in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday after the Belgian beat Neil Robertson 10-7 in the semi-finals. Snooker's top two players will go head-to-head after Brecel edged out a nervy semi-final during which he spurned several chances to wrap up the match. World No.1 O'Sullivan reached the final after beating Mark Selby on Friday.
Rain stopped play? Water on table holds up Brecel v Robertson at Shanghai Masters
Luca Brecel battled through an inconsistent performance to beat Neil Robertson in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, setting up a mouthwatering final clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan.
World champion Brecel overcame Robertson 10-7 in a closely fought semi-final on Saturday and will now meet world No. 1 O’Sullivan in Sunday’s final.
The match got off to a bizarre start when drops of water landed on the table. After a brief consultation with the referee both players agreed to continue, and it was Brecel who immediately took control.
Brecel had lost all three of his previous meetings with Australian icon Robertson, but the Belgian made a fast start as he won the opening three frames.
Robertson immediately found himself under pressure but that seemed to spark the world No. 6 into life, as he hit a break of 95 to take the fourth frame before then pulling the score back to 3-2.
World No. 2 Brecel kept his composure and restored a two-frame lead, before taking advantage of some surprising Robertson misses to go 5-2 up and guarantee the lead ahead of the second session.
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'Best he's played all session' - Robertson nails final red in fine break against Brecel
A missed attempt on the black in the eighth frame showed Brecel that the contest was far from over, and he duly regained his composure to end the first session with a 6-3 lead.
The second session began with a topsy-turvy frame that saw Brecel fail to capitalise after Robertson accidentally potted the cue ball, allowing the Australian to clean up and pull the score back to 6-4.
But once again Brecel responded with a brilliant frame, drawing gasps from the crowd as he went 7-4 ahead to edge towards the final.
Brecel squandered the chance to snooker Robertson and increase his lead to 8-4, leaving the door open for his opponent to launch a brave comeback.
Robertson took the next two frames to pull the score back to 7-6 before the mid-session interval.
The pair exchanged centuries to leave the score at 8-7, before Brecel made hard work of the final two frames to limp over the line and secure a place in the final.
The Belgian will be disappointed with his performance, particularly the way in which he repeatedly let Robertson off the hook by missing easy shots.
Yet in the end he managed to secure a first tour win against Robertson to secure a place in the showpiece final.
Brecel will certainly have to up his game against the seven-time world champion, who came from behind to beat Mark Selby 10-7 in the other semi-final on Friday.
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