Ronnie O'Sullivan has made it through to tomorrow's final of the UK Championship in York after beating Mark Williams 9-6. The world champion produced some of the best snooker of his life, notching up three century breaks on his way to victory, including a total clearance of 142 in frame seven, which puts him in line for the £10,000 highest-break prize. The world champion will now attempt to win the UK Championship title for the third time when he meets Dubliner Ken Doherty and the Irishman will find himself with a tough challenge if O'Sullivan can reproduce the form he displayed tonight.
However, Williams did not go down without a fight. After today's first session, the world number one and UK champion in 1999 trailed O'Sullivan 5-3. Following the resumption of play, Williams reduced the deficit to one frame with a break of 67. But that was as close as he got as O'Sullivan went 7-4 up in two tight frames and never looked under threat thereafter.
"That was the best form of my life," said O'Sullivan afterwards. "It was an unbelievable match to play in - there are electric waves going through me. Mark played out of his skin. I scored heavily and didn't miss a long pot all day, but I couldn't shake him off. I'm not looking forward to playing him for the next five or six years."
Williams was also full of praise for his opponent. "Ronnie played well - give him half a chance and he clears the table. I put him under pressure, but he's got the ability to kick on when he needs to. I still had a chance of coming back tonight and it could have been 6-6 at the interval rather than 7-5 to Ronnie. I'm playing a lot better than I was and although I've not won a tournament for a while, if I keep playing like this there should be one not too far around the corner," he said.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
