Ding Junhui beat Jamie Cope 6-3 in the Ladbrokes Mobile Masters on Saturday night to set up an all-Asian final against Marco Fu.
Chinese star sees off Cope to set up all-Asian final against Fu
Ding Junhui beat Jamie Cope 6-3 in their Ladbrokes Mobile Masters meeting on Saturday night to set up an all-Asian final - the first ever in a major snooker tournament - against Marco Fu at Wembley.
Sunday's meeting between Chinese star Ding and Hong Kong's Fu, who earlier came from 4-1 down to beat Mark Allen 6-4, will likely be watched by a television audience of more than 100million in the Far East.
Ding has won four major ranking tournaments and played in a Masters final before, but he had an unhappy experience against Ronnie O'Sullivan four years ago when the crowd's support for the home favourite verged on hostility towards the then teenager.
Now 23-years-old, Ding will have no such worries this time and starts the best-of-19-frames final as favourite, despite Fu's successes against Stephen Maguire, Peter Ebdon and Allen this week.
Fu, 33, will be seeking his second major title, having triumphed at the Grand Prix in 2007.
Proud
Ding fired breaks of 68, 54 and 102 to seize a 3-1 lead over Cope by the mid-session interval.
Cope took frame two after a run of 101 but that was as good as it got break-wise for the Stoke player, with Ding then coming from 59-0 behind to extend his lead to 4-1.
They split the next two frames before Cope replied to Ding's 53 with a 73 to take frame eight.
Ding quickly built a 69-0 lead in the next frame, though, and while that was not quite enough to finish off Cope, he was soon back at the table to seal the victory.
Asked about the prospect of an all-Asian final, Ding told the
BBC: "I think it's lucky. I'm very proud.
"I'm going to try very hard because I saw Marco play very well today."
Ding also said he had made progress since losing 10-3 to O'Sullivan in 2007 - a match in which he choked back tears - adding: "I think I'm a better player and think differently and I enjoy the games."
