Higgins to face Carter

Carter: Through to final

It was a tough match - I never felt that comfortable out there so I'm delighted to get through.

Ali Carter
Quotes of the week

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John Higgins knocked out Ronnie O'Sullivan to set up a final showdown with defending champion Ali Carter at the Welsh Open.

Higgins ended the world number one's hopes of glory in Newport with a 6-4 victory in the second semi-final after Carter had earlier disposed of Stephen Maguire by a 6-3 scoreline.

O'Sullivan, who was beaten by Mark Selby in a thrilling Masters final earlier this month, had led 2-1 and then 4-3 in the evening session.

However Higgins battled back not once but twice, firstly levelling matters at two frames apiece with a tournament-high break of 138.

Having briefly been 3-2 in front himself, the Scotsman took a scrappy eighth frame to make it 4-4 before moving within sight of victory by winning the ninth.

Risky red

Looking to stay alive, O'Sullivan gambled at taking on a risky red at the start of the 10th frame. Although the ball rolled in, the Englishman had to watch on as the white sunk into the middle pocket.

Standing in Higgins' way of the title is Carter, who celebrated his first ranking success in the event last year.

The 30-year-old had stormed ahead early on against world number two Maguire, securing the first frame with a break of 72 and then doubling his lead with a run of 95 in the next.

Maguire fell 3-0 behind before making some progress with a break of 86, but Carter grabbed back his three-frame advantage with runs of 48 and 49.

The two players then split the next four frames before Carter wrapped things up with a fine break of 80 in the ninth.

"It was a tough match - I never felt that comfortable out there so I'm delighted to get through," he said afterwards. "But looking at who I've got in the final I know I'm going to have to up my game a bit."