Saturday 21 January 2017 23:56, UK
Ronnie O'Sullivan is through to the Masters final for the 12th time in his career after beating Marco Fu 6-4 in a high quality match at Alexandra Palace.
And 'the Rocket' will face Joe Perry in the final after the 42-year-old Englishman came back from the brink of defeat to conquer Barry Hawkins 6-5 in a thrilling Saturday night showdown.
Londoner O'Sullivan had to replace a faulty cue tip early on in his semi but returned to produce some brilliant snooker, as he chases a record seventh Masters title.
Fu has been in fine form of late himself and rolled in a break of 110 to claim a 2-1 lead, at which point O'Sullivan was allowed to get his tip replaced.
And the next four frames were shared as Fu produced a highest-of-the-tournament 141 and an 89 while O'Sullivan responded with 95 and 122.
O'Sullivan then took charge, levelling the match at 4-4 thanks to runs of 55 and 63, and then charging through the final two frames with breaks of 82 and 69.
O'Sullivan told the BBC: "The tip was gone, completely gone. It just couldn't take any chalk. I mis-cued five or six times, it was like chalking a bit of slate.
"It was going to wait for the interval but it was so gone and they said 'look, you can take the interval now' and that was sweet.
"It's probably the best match I've ever won, I've got to be honest with you, given the circumstances.
"If you're playing well you can get away with a new tip. If you're cueing badly and you put a new tip on, it's over."
Later on Saturday, Perry found himself 5-2 down to Hawkins and in need of snookers in frame eight but he dug deep to force Hawkins into an error, before taking the next two frames and levelling the match at 5-5, thanks to breaks of 57 and 62.
Perry then found himself 50-0 down in the decider but produced a superb break of 70, featuring a brilliant pot of the brown under heavy pressure, to book his place in Sunday's final.
