LLANDUDNO: The Australian cueist Neil Robertson has beaten his English counterpart Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-9 to qualify for the Tour Championship final, here on Friday.
In an epic semi-final between the two experienced cueist, Robertson sealed the victory in the final frame; beating O’Sullivan by 10-9.
In the opening frame, Robertson pulled ahead with a break of 115, but O’Sullivan managed to claim the next three frames and took a 3-1 lead at the conclusion of the first session. The English cueist shone with successive breaks of 125, 90, and 106 to take control.
In the afternoon session, O’Sullivan carried on his wonderful run and extended his lead to 4-1 after a brilliant break of 128 in the fifth frame. Robertson, on the other hand, bounced back quickly and claimed the next three frames including successive breaks of 85 and 95 to level the scores at 4-4.
The next session followed the same pattern with O’Sullivan claiming the first frame only for Robertson to claim the next three to extend his lead to 7-5 at the interval.
After O’Sullivan cut the lead to a single frame, Robertson fired a 117 to pull within two frames of victory, only for O’Sullivan to react with a spectacular 100 clearance.
O’Sullivan then battled back from a 37-point deficit to level the match at 8-8 before closing in on a stunning victory with his fifth century of the match.
Robertson dominated the 18th frame with an 88-8 score to come one frame closer to the victory, before repeating the feat in the last to secure the final berth.
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