Jimmy White defeated by Ken Doherty in World Championship qualifying

Jimmy White will not take part in this year's World Championship after a crushing 10-3 defeat by Ken Doherty in qualifying.

The six-time Crucible finalist was always up against it after falling 5-1 behind to world 44 Doherty, the 1997 world champion.

White went into Thursday night's session 6-3 down - but lost four more frames in a row to bow out to the 1997 world champion.

The 47-year-old had shown glimpses of his best with a 103 break in the early session but Doherty took a convincing lead and never looked back.

Dublin's Doherty, who lost in last year's qualifiers to end a 15-year run at Sheffield, faces Joe Swail on Monday for a place in this year's betfred-sponsored event.

Jimmy White closes in on Crucible return as John Parrott drops from world's elite

Jimmy White has won through to the penultimate round of snooker's World Championships qualifying with a 10-8 victory over Scotland's Mark Boyle - a result which ended John Parrott's chances of staying in the top 64.

The six-time Crucible runner-up will take on 1997 world champion Ken Doherty as the Londoner aims for another crack at Sheffield glory.

But White's gain was Parrott's loss, who has admitted he could quit snooker after failing to qualify for the World Championship.

The 1991 world champion has steadily fallen down the rankings and is now certain to slip out of the top 64 for next season.

He lost 10-6 to Chinese teenager Anda Zhang at Sheffield's English Institute of Sport on Wednesday and would face a future away from the main tour if he opts to continue.

Parrott, 45, said: "If I'm off the tour, it's fairly certain that I'll retire. I certainly won't be playing any lower down.

"If I lose my card, that's me gone. I still have the utmost respect for the game.

"I've just lost in the World Championship and I'm not going to spit the dummy out. But I don't enjoy the hours of practice any more."

John Higgins wins Welsh Open following defeat of defending champion Ali Carter

John Higgins claimed his second Welsh Open title with a 9-4 victory over defending champion Ali Carter in Sunday night's final at the Newport Centre.

The world champion had entered the evening session 6-2 up after dominating the afternoon's proceedings in Gwent. The 34-year-old admitted his blistering start to the match had set him on the way to victory, believing it was some of the best snooker he has played.

"That's the best I have ever felt to be honest, I didn't know what was going on," he said.

"I was zoned in and I am delighted with how I played. But I also got a bit of luck, there were a lot of little rubs of the green that snooker players can see that went my way. Ali also had a few bad kicks."

Higgins hopes his success in Wales can be a boost ahead of his defence of his world crown later in the year.

He said: "That's what we're building towards, and this will give me confidence and I am looking forward to it."

Carter had no complaints about his defeat but was disappointed to relinquish his title.

He said: "I was under all sorts of pressure and I was just glad to make a game of it. I would have been glad to get back to 7-5, but he's done me 9-4 in the end. The crowd have been great this week and I am disappointed I couldn't keep my title, but I had a good go."

Higgins was always in control after surging 5-0 ahead with a near-immaculate display.

Ronnie O'Sullivan takes his chance at Welsh Open and misses another

Ronnie O'Sullivan set up a semi-final against John Higgins and almost made a 147 maximum break in his ruthless demolition of Mark Allen at the totesport.com Welsh Open.

O'Sullivan won 5-2 and finished the match, at Pontin's in Prestatyn, in a hurry by reeling off four frames in quick succession.

In the fifth frame the 34 year-old looked certain to become the first man to reach 10 career maximums in professional events when he potted 15 reds and blacks and turned his attention to the colours.

But he missed a straightforward green and the break ground to a halt at 122, with O'Sullivan clearly amused by the manner in which it broke down.

O'Sullivan had fallen 1-0 and 2-1 behind in the early stages but he was mostly highly impressive and breaks of 92, 88, 90 and 50 on top of the century proved to be frame winners.

Allen, whose highest break was 54, could only watch and admire as O'Sullivan breezed through the frames to complete his victory in an hour and eight minutes.

The Northern Irishman waved a handkerchief on the end of his cue in surrender as O'Sullivan wrapped up his terrific win.

Higgins had a top break of 89 in his 5-2 win over Masters champion Mark Selby.

World champion Higgins did not score as heavily as O'Sullivan but the Scot was never headed by Selby, tearing into a 3-0 lead and sealing his win with two scoring visits in the seventh frame.

Ronnie O'Sullivan underwhelmed after defeating Peter Ebdon in Masters

Ronnie O'Sullivan was again thoroughly underwhelmed with his performance after beating Peter Ebdon 6-3 in their Pokerstars.com Masters quarter-final at Wembley Arena on Thursday afternoon.

O'Sullivan delivered a scathing appraisal of his game after fighting back from 3-0 down to beat Neil Robertson in the last round, saying a lot of the time he was playing "sub-standard shots".

There appeared little to be unhappy with early as the Essex potter raced into a 4-0 lead in just over an hour but O'Sullivan was especially unhappy with how he finished the contest.

"Peter could have won the game quite easily," he told BBC2.

"I would rather be 3-0 down and hit a bit of momentum than be 3-0 up and feel like I'm stalling when I come to the table.

"Most of the time I'm missing a lot of shots and it was difficult to find confidence out there.

"The long game I've got at the moment is just laughable."

O'Sullivan got off to a flying start as breaks of 92, 53 and 74 in the opening three frames helped him seize control of the match.

Ebdon stopped the rot as a fluked final red helped him take the fifth frame and the 2002 world champion reduced the deficit to two by edging a tight sixth, despite a 54 break from his opponent.

O'Sullivan moved to within one frame of victory only to be pegged back again by the 2002 world champion before a 106 got him over the line.

John Higgins crashes out of Masters

World champion John Higgins was woeful as he suffered a Pokerstars.com Masters first-round exit to Mark Allen at Wembley Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

The 34-year-old Scot, who is provisional world No 1 and won the Masters in 1999 and 2006, slipped 3-1 behind at the mid-session interval in the best-of-11 contest.

Allen made numerous errors but Higgins made even more as the Northern Irishman held on for a 6-3 triumph.

The 23 year-old will now face Mark Selby, who beat China's Ding Junhui 6-1 on Sunday, in the last eight.

Higgins took the opening frame in an intriguing tactical battle, taking the initiative after Allen endured a run of four successive misses.

Allen pulled back in the second frame, taking advantage of indifferent form from his opponent.

The left hander's positional play was far from perfect, but Higgins failed to capitalise and Allen was accomplished enough to forge further ahead with victory in the third frame.

Higgins responded in the fourth and appeared set to be levelling the match, but fouled, touching a red with his cue as he was lining up a black.

Allen took full advantage to take a two-frame advantage at the mid-session interval.

Higgins urgently needed to wrest the initiative from his young opponent in the fifth frame and duly made his highest break of the contest, 39.

Despite the miss he won a tactical battle on the pink to narrow the deficit.

World No 11 Allen made a break of 51 in the sixth frame and it was enough to hold on, but again Higgins hit back to narrow the deficit at 4-3.

The see-saw battle continued, with Allen taking the eighth frame and he built to 50 without response in the ninth before clinching the match as Higgins' terrible display continued.

Allen conceded his performance was poor and he was surprised Higgins was even worse.

"It wasn't very good," Allen told BBC2. "I missed too many balls.

"It was an unusual John Higgins out there today.

"Everyone has their off days, it's just unexpected."

Peter Ebdon storms through to last eight of the Wembley Masters

Peter Ebdon booked himself a quarter-final meeting with either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Neil Robertson as he beat Marco Fu 6-2 in the Masters at Wembley.

Ebdon came storming back after losing the opening two frames, producing some outstanding breaks to win six in a row.

Fu made a good start in a tense opening frame, taking advantage of a double kiss on a red by Ebdon to clean up. A slow start to the second saw Ebdon make another mistake as he blocked himself from the red he needed and Fu took full advantage to move 2-0 up.

He was looking good in the third too but then missed the brown that should have seen him go on to win and Ebdon stormed back with a break of 27 to win it.

Ebdon then scrapped his way back into the game, winning a tough safety exchange to take his first lead, 3-2, after the fifth.

After the break Ebdon looked like a different player, free in his rhythm as he piled up substantial breaks and left Fu sitting in his corner. He was cruising towards a century in the decisive eighth frame before missing a pink, but he had already done enough to go through.

Earlier, Mark Selby breezed through to the second round with a 6-1 rout of China's Ding Junhui.

Selby raced out to a 5-0 lead and only missed out on a whitewash as he failed to pot the frame ball in the sixth, giving Ding a consolation frame before Selby finished the job in the seventh.

Ding looked like giving Selby a good fight in a competitive opener and then opened with a break of 42 in the second, but a mistake on the blue let Selby back in and he did not look back with some outstanding snooker.

Selby will now go forward to face John Higgins or Mark Allen in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Jimmy White could not make the most of his wild card in the Masters as he slipped to a disappointing 6-2 first-round defeat at the hands of Mark King on a day of one-sided encounters at Wembley.

White, number 56 in the world, was given a wild card following his exploits on reality television show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! and was supported by a number of his fellow contestants from his time in the jungle.

But he could do little to impress them as he struggled to keep control of the cue ball, looking a shadow of the player who became such a favourite with the London crowd.

White appeared nervy in an electric Wembley atmosphere and handed the first frame to King with numerous errors.

The 47-year-old was on course to level at 1-1 until he overran position on the final black, but King gave him another chance which he took to the relief of the crowd.

But King took the next with a break of 64 before going into the break with a 3-1 lead.

White clawed one back after the interval with a run of 48 but from there on it was all King.

He claimed the next three frames, the highlight a break of 85 in frame seven, with White unable to find any fluency among the balls.

King will next face Stephen Maguire.

Ding Junhui defeats John Higgins to win Pukka Pies UK Snooker Championship

Ding Junhui made snooker history after he defeated John Higgins 10-8 to win the Pukka Pies UK Snooker Championship for the second time at the Telford International Centre on Sunday night.

The Chinese star claimed the £100,000 first prize and became the most successful Asian player by winning his fourth ranking event. This was his first ranking success since winning the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy and only his third victory in 10 attempts against Scotland’s Higgins.

Higgins and Ding shared the first eight frames of the final during a marathon opening session. Neither player managed to build a substantial lead, but Higgins was left to contemplate what might have been when, leading 58-42 in the 15th frame, he missed an easy final brown.

Higgins was also in early control of the next with a 49 but he fluffed a comfortable red and Ding ended up clearing the colours to move within one frame of victory. Higgins responded with a 115 clearance, but Ding crossed the finishing line in the next with a run of 75 after Higgins fell apart on 27.

In addition to the winner’s cheque, Ding also won his body weight – 69kg – in pies, courtesy of the tournament sponsors.

Ding Junhui defeats Stephen Maguire to reach snooker's UK Championship final

Ding Junhui booked his place in the final of the Pukka Pies UK Championship with a 9-5 victory over Stephen Maguire in Telford on Friday night.

The stage looked set for a tense battle when Maguire won the first two frames of the evening session to level the scores at 5-5.

But Ding took the next four in succession to set up a final showdown with either Ronnie O'Sullivan or John Higgins on Sunday.

Maguire won a tight opening frame tonight on the black and then enjoyed a massive slice of luck to win the next.

Ding needed a snooker with just the blue, pink and black remaining, but secured it when Maguire failed to swerve around the pink.

However, Maguire then fluked the blue into the middle pocket with his next shot to get back on level terms.

If Ding was rattled at being pegged back he certainly showed no signs in the next frame, rattling in a total clearance of 134 to get back in front.

And from then on it was one-way traffic, the Chinese star completing victory with a break of 69.

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Co provide inspiration for Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst is a huge fan of the green baize and takes endless inspiration from watching Ronnie O'Sullivan and Co in action.

Damien Hirst has been watching his old mate Ronnie O’Sullivan in action in the magnificently named Pukka Pies UK Snooker Championship in Telford.

A huge fan of the baize, with a table set up in his studio in Devon, the artist claimed this week that he has found endless inspiration for his art watching the game in action.

And once you know that, the Hirst body of work begins to make sense. Those complex patterns of coloured dots in which he specialises are clearly a visual homage to an O’Sullivan break.

While that skull encrusted in diamonds is a ringer for Peter Ebdon.

As for the pickled shark, with its wrinkled skin, missing teeth and long-term immersion in alcohol, it can be nothing other than a portrait of Alex Higgins.

Stephen Maguire books place in UK Championship semi-finals

Stephen Maguire booked his place in the semi-finals of the UK Championship on Wednesday night with a 9-5 victory over plucky qualifier Peter Lines in Telford.

The world number two was 6-2 up after the first session and looked set for a comfortable victory when he won the first frame of Wednesday night's session.

But Lines, who had reached the quarter-finals of a ranking event only once previously in his career at the 1999 China Open, was not finished.

Having dumped Mark Williams out of the event with a 9-8 victory in the previous round, Lines proceeded to win three frames in a row to close to 7-5.

However, Maguire rolled in a century break of 108 in frame 13 and wrapped up victory at the first opportunity.

The Scot, who is playing despite the death of his grandfather last weekend, will face either Ali Carter or Ding Junhui in the last four.

The pair went into the evening session tied at 4-4 and could still not be separated six frames later.

Sir Rodney Walker fails to gain re-election as WPBSA chairman

Barry Hearn is ready to be a ruthless leader and bring in sweeping changes when he takes over as the most powerful man in snooker.

Hearn is poised to be named chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, after Sir Rodney Walker was ousted from the role on Wednesday.

The Essex-born promoter, who formed the Matchroom stable of top players in the 1980s before enjoying huge success in boxing, insists he will not be afraid to make big decisions to raise the sport from its current doldrums.

And he will demand carte blanche in his plans for reform.

"That's the only deal," Hearn said. "They know how I am.

"We'll have a board of directors and we'll have board meetings - and we'll do what I want.

"If it doesn't work, I expect to be kicked out."

He added: "We've got to create instantly. By the time the World Championship comes up (in April), I'll have a published masterplan.

"It will be brutally honest and transparent and will create opportunities for people to play in the competitive game."

Walker could not raise sufficient support to stay on as chairman at today's WPBSA annual general meeting in Sheffield.

Jim McMahon and Mike Dunn also lost their seats on the board.

There has been growing opposition to the WPBSA leadership among players, who have only six ranking events on their calendar this season and have been stunned by the association's refusal to recognise the Snooker Players Association, which Hearn has pledged to work closely with.

Walker planned to more than double the number of events in conjunction with sports management giants IMG, but there had been some scepticism over whether the WPBSA regime he headed could deliver on the ambitious plan.

The new chairman and replacement board members will be brought in by Lee Doyle and Dr Hamish McInnes, who remain on the board. The first new board member will be a player, it was announced.

"I'm quite up for this," Hearn said.

"It's kind of deja vu.

"I'm not going to say snooker is the next Premier League football, but it's a good game."

Under Hearn's stewardship, the popularity of professional darts has soared, with packed venues and increased television coverage bringing in more money to the sport.

Snooker, meanwhile, has been unable to attain the popularity it enjoyed during the previous two decades.

Hearn intends to address snooker in the way he initially looked at darts.

"Most of my brief for the first part is listening," he said.

"Then I go away, think about it, I take the good ideas as my own and drop the bad ideas."

Hearn is open to the idea of taking sport to countries where there is a growing interest; however, he also sees the scope for having more major tournaments in Britain, and he believes the Crucible is likely to remain the long-term home of the World Championship.

"I'm nostalgic, I remember good days at the Crucible," he said.

"I do see it as a UK event but that doesn't mean there can't be bigger events (overseas).

"I don't close the door and don't say never.

"But, unless there is quantum change, I don't see why we should take it away."

Smooth sailing for Indians

Pankaj Advani and Geet Sethi hardly broke a sweat but compatriot Yasin Merchant had to toil for his win in the World Snooker C'ship.

In the men's round of 64 match, Advani virtually toyed with Bobby Cruickshanks of Scotland before carving out a facile 4-0 win.

Advani won the first three frames with consummate ease before his opponent put up an improved show but it was too little, too late as the Indian wrapped up the issue 102-08, 74-27, 50-37, 59-56.

In the Master's section, Geet Sethi blanked compatriot Kamaraj 4-0 in the round of 32 match.

Sethi's wealth of huge experience stood him in good stead as the cueist thumped Kamaraj 66-16, 68-1, 64-6, 52-42.

In the men's section, Yasin Merchant, however, found going tough against New Zealander Chris Maltby even though the Indian eventually prevailed 4-3.

Mechant won the first two frames before losing the third.

He pocketed the next to go 3-1 up but Maltby clinched the next to reduce the margin.

Merchant raised his game in the seventh frame and sealed it to clinch the match 98-21, 66-45, 30-54, 68-26, 54-66, 16-51, 67-25.

Alok reaches knock-out stage

Indian cueist Alok Kumar registered his fourth win in as many group matches to reach the knock-out stage of the World Snooker Championship.

The 41-year-old Indian, who is yet to loose a frame in the four matches that he has played so far', thrashed Ryan Somaratna of Sri Lanka 4-0 to reach the round of 64 at the International Convention Centre here.

Ace Indian cueist Geet Sethi also shrugged off Tuesday's bad form and posted a comfortable win against Abdul Khamis of Qatar to keep his hopes alive for the top spot in his group in the Masters category.

Among other Indians in fray, Kamal Chawla and Brijesh Damani exhibited much improved performance as they registered comfortable wins against Ajeya Prabhakar of USA and Andreas Ploner of Australia respectively.

However, it was a disappoiting day for Aditya Mehta, who went down to Patrick Einsle of Germany. Down by 0-3, a visibly demoralised Aditya could not put up any fight as Einsle sealed the frame and match with a well crafted break of 52.

In the ladies section, Vidya Pillai of India maintained her all-win record in her Group B league matches by beating compatriot Neeta Sanghvi 3-0.

Suniti Damani also posted her first win in the championship, defeating Nalha Sunni of Bahrain 3-0.

However, it was a bad day in office for ace cueist Chitra Magimairaj and Anuja Chandra as both were shown the door by Santhinee Jaisuekul of Thailand and Ng On Yee of Hong Kong respectively.

In the Masters category, Former IBSF World Snooker Champion and winner of the master's category in the year 2007, Darren Morgan of Wales brused aside Australian Paul Thomerson 3-0 with a nicely compiled break of 52 in the third frame.

Defending champion Dene O'Kane of New Zealand maintained his all-win record so far in his Group by defeating Prasanna Madumage of Sri Lanka 3-0.

Robertson wins in Glasgow

Neil Robertson won his second Grand Prix title after Ding Junhui capitulated in the final at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall.

Australian Robertson, 27, completed a 9-4 victory to claim his fourth ranking title, making him the most successful player from outside Great Britain in the history of the game.

Ding - who shared that honour until this match - twice came from behind to level at 4-4 at the start of the evening session.

The Chinese star, 22, had staged comebacks in three of his four matches on the way to the final, but he never recovered from losing an epic ninth frame tonight, which lasted for almost an hour.

The match was only the second of the sport's 220 ranking finals to be contested by two non-Britons, the last being 24 years ago.

Neither player had lost the final of a ranking event before this match but it was Robertson who emerged with that record intact.

Fresh from his final-black victory over world champion John Higgins - hailed as one of the finest matches in the tournament's history - the Australian could not have dreamed of a better start today as he potted everything in sight on his way to a 124 clearance.

The 2006 champion began frame two in similar fashion and although he twice broke down while in among the balls, a run of 46 ultimately proved enough.

He was also in first in the third but his shot selection began to go awry, and after almost half an hour of scrappy play, Ding got off the mark.

Robertson broke down again while leading in the final frame before the mid-session interval, and this time Ding needed just one chance, a break of 80 levelling proceedings.

The world number 13 picked up where he left off at the restart, a 112 clearance putting him ahead for the first time.

Ding was beginning to look every bit as good as Robertson had earlier but he missed a tricky red in the sixth and the Australian took full advantage.

A 108 clearance was Robertson's 100th competitive ton and certainly one of his hardest earned, full of superb recovery pots.

The final frame of the session proved dramatic.

Ding was unfortunate to knock in a red splitting the pack off the blue before Robertson miscued horribly when in among the balls.

But the Australian - who climbs up to third in the provisional world rankings - did not waste his next chance, compiling a 43 break to go back in front.

Despite missing the easiest of yellows, runs of 48 and 47 helped Ding level again as the evening session got under way.

The Chinese then almost came from 50 points down to steal a gruelling 57-minute ninth frame - the longest of the tournament - after getting a snooker but Robertson held on.

The malaise persisted until Robertson managed a 36 break to move two ahead before two easy missed reds from his opponent and a run of 46 helped him into a 7-4 lead at the interval.

Ding's game continued to disintegrate and he was unable to hide his frustration when he fluffed a simple pink to the middle to hand Robertson a dour frame 12.

And he broke down again in the next, Roberton punishing him with a break of 89 to wrap up victory.

John Higgins hammers Mark Allen to reach snooker's Grand Prix semi-finals in Glasgow

Defending champion John Higgins completed a 5-1 hammering of Mark Allen to reach the Grand Prix semi-finals in Glasgow.

A 66 break in the opening frame suggested the "Wizard of Wishaw" was in the same imperious form that accounted for Ronnie O'Sullivan in the previous round, and he clinched the second in two visits before a 72 break saw him open up a 3-0 lead.

Allen battled back, clearing the colours to take frame four and knocking in a break of 73 in the next - but a missed red off the rest let Higgins back in to snatch the frame.

And he won frame single with a single visit of 96 to finish the match.

Australian Neil Robertson was even more impressive as he strung together two centuries in beating practice partner Joe Perry by the same scoreline.

Perry started with a run of 60 en route to winning the first frame, but Robertson immediately levelled and did not look back.

A superb century with the balls in awkward positions extended his lead, and he followed that effort with a 67 to move 4-1 up.

His display was given a fitting finale with a second century, 103, as he secured victory and joined Higgins in the last four.

Former world champion Mark Williams reached the Grand Prix semi-finals in Glasgow with an improved performance in his 5-2 victory over Robert Milkins at Kelvin Hall.

The Welshman edged a scrappy first session 3-1 but grew in stature after the mid-session interval and performed better than his scrappy quarter-final win over Stephen Hendry.

John Higgins edges out Ronnie O'Sullivan in snooker's Grand Prix in Glasgow

Defending Grand Prix champion John Higgins held his nerve to see off world No 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4 during a classic encounter in front of his home crowd at Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall.

O’Sullivan led 4-3, only to miss a great chance to clinch the match in a nervous eighth frame.

Higgins, though, showed no fear in the decider, producing a break of 94 to book a place in the quarter-finals.

“I thought I was all over the place and felt really on edge,” Higgins said. “I felt if Ronnie upped it a bit, I would get beat.

“I missed a few, but that is what it has been like when I have played Ronnie recently.

“People expect a high-quality match, but sometimes you do not produce.”

O’Sullivan, who claimed last month’s Shanghai Masters title, had opened up with a break of 131.

However, Higgins fought back to lead 2-1 capitalising after O’Sullivan missed a red to the middle pocket.

A break of 63 saw O’Sullivan tie the match, before in frame five he was allowed back to the table following 62 from Higgins.

The Essex player went on to clear the colours, sinking the pink somewhat fortunately off two cushions to lead 3-2 at the mid-session interval.

O’Sullivan was ahead 57-37 in the next frame, when he missed a long red across table into bottom corner and Higgins drew level at 3-3.

There were, though, no slip-ups from the world number one when he quickly chalked off the next frame to close in on the match.

However, after a break of 50 in the next, O’Sullivan could not find an angle on any loose red, which allowed Higgins a lifeline.

The Scot, though, failed to produce a safety, but O’Sullivan then spurned a straightforward pot into the bottom left corner which would have set him up with a match-winning break.

As the tension got to both men, Higgins lost position when clearing the colours, then missed a routine pot on the blue down the cushion, but O’Sullivan could not capitalise as the Scot, roared on by the Glasgow crowd, closed out the frame.

O’Sullivan looked anything but composed, when he hit the pink as he tried to escape from an early snooker and then missed a long red, which proved crucial.

Higgins split the reds to open the pack up, and made no mistake with a break of 94.

On the other table, Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen beat Jamie Cope 5-3.

Allen, a semi-finalist at the Crucible earlier this year, started well, only for Cope to come back and level before moving 3-2 ahead in the best of nine encounter.

However, breaks of 51 and then 60, when he had trailed 56-0, saw Allen move 4-3 ahead before wrapping up the match in frame eight.

O'Sullivan to take on Liang in final

Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised into the Roewe Shanghai Masters with a dominating 6-1 performance over close rival John Higgins.

O'Sullivan will now take on Liang Wenbo after the Chinese player edged out Shaun Murphy 6-5 in a close match earlier.

The world no. 1 got out to a 4-0 advantage with breaks of 73, 53 and 81 along the way - the latter being a maximum 147 chance in frame four until the 11th black stayed out.

Higgins finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth frame but was out of sorts throughout and allowed his rival a comfortable passage through.

O'Sullivan was pleased with his performance but felt he did not match the standards he set in his quarter-final win yesterday.

He said: "I played well in spells, not as well as I did against Ding Junhui.

"I'm feeling more confident and relaxed as the week goes on, finding some rhythm and enjoying the match situation."

Liang was aided in his progress by a below-par display from Murphy, who had cruised into the last four losing just one frame all week.

After starting well and opening up a 2-0 lead with a 102 break in the second frame, Liang was then pegged back to 2-2 and the pair traded error-riddled frames.

Liang eventually came through in a nervy decider but Murphy warned him he will need to curb his gung-ho tendencies to prevail in the final.

Murphy said: "He will need to play better to win the tournament and stop playing silly shots.

"That's what happens in sport, I had three matches playing very near to my best.

"This is the semi-final, which is very important and I didn't play my best - I don't know why.

"If he plays like he played against me today he will lose, but he is capable of winning if he pots more balls and plays better safety."

O'Sullivan is expecting a difficult contest against a player who will enjoy good home support.

He said: "I'm just going to try to execute my shots tomorrow, stay competitive and hope for a good match.

"It's fantastic for Liang Wenbo to get to the final and it's not going to be easy.

"I'm not surprised he's in the final because he's a top player, he's been around for a while and it's only a matter of time before he wins a tournament."

Higgins admitted he had been way below his best against O'Sullivan but feels Liang could have his work cut out in the final.

The Scot said: "I had a bad day, I don't know why. It's just one of those things, everybody has a bad day.

"It's great for the Chinese people for Liang to come through and there'll be a lot of people rooting for him.

"He'll have to play very well, I'm sure Ronnie won't play as badly as he did tonight, he'll play better in the final. He usually does."

Liang through to final in Shanghai

Liang Wenbo sealed his place in the Roewe Shanghai Masters finale after edging out Shaun Murphy in a close semi-final.

The Chinese qualifier won 6-5, due in part to a poor performance by Murphy, who had lost just one frame prior to this match.

Liang had opened a 2-0 advantage after a 102 break in the second frame, but that was as good as the scoring would get.

Murphy pulled the scores level at 2-2 before an error-riddled fifth frame was finally clinched by Liang.

The pair then traded frames before Murphy took the match to a decider following another scrappy 10th frame.

The decider was a nervy affair with both players missing chances before Liang eventually triumphed to secure his place in a ranking tournament final for the first time.

"It's a disappointing end to a good tournament," Murphy said afterwards.

"It's the most successful Shanghai Masters I've had. I came into the match full of confidence but I played about 60%, whereas earlier in the week I was about 90%."

Murphy warned Liang, whose gung-ho nature would have cost him the victory on another day, will have to improve in the final where he will meet the winner of today's other semi-final between world champion John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

"He will need to play better to win the tournament and stop playing silly shots," he added.

"That's what happens in sport, I had three matches playing very near to my best. This is the semi-final which is very important and I didn't play my best - I don't know why.

"If he plays like he played against me today he will lose, but he is capable of winning if he pots more balls and plays better safety.

"He beat me today but if I had played better and not missed the easy balls then I would have won.

"It was my fault I lost. He's very entertaining and fun to watch, but this is about winning, not entertaining."

Liang admitted he rode his luck during the match and was indebted to an unusually subdued Murphy display.

"Murphy played okay but missed a key ball in the last frame," he said.

"It was a tough match. During the break my coach encouraged me, calmed me down and helped me re-focus."

Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett quizzed by police over 'irregular' betting patterns

Two snooker stars were questioned by police on Thursday over alleged irregular betting patterns during a UK Championship match.

Stephen Maguire, 28, and Jamie Burnett, 33, were released without charge after being held by Strathclyde Police.

The force's economic crime unit is investigating claims linked to the result of a game between the two Scots in Telford on Dec 15 last year.

The first-round match, which was subject to investigations by World Snooker and the Gambling Commission, was won 9-3 by Maguire.

Maguire, ranked No 2 in the world, won the match after Burnett failed to pot a black ball that would have reduced his score to 8-4.

Before the match, World Snooker was contacted by bookmakers reporting suspicious betting patterns on the outcome.

They said there was heavy gambling on a 9-3 scoreline - provoking suspicion from bookmakers.

Both men strenuously denied any wrongdoing and have pledged to co-operate with any investigations.

A Strathclyde Police spokesman said: "Our economic crime unit can confirm that two men, aged 28 and 33, have been detained and are assisting Strathclyde Police with their inquiries into the alleged irregular betting pattern associated with the snooker match involving Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett."

Both of the players were later released without charge. A spokesman said the pair were released after being questioned.

They added that inquiries were continuing and a report would be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

A spokesman for the game's governing body, World Snooker, said: "We are aware that Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett were detained today by Strathclyde Police, and that both were subsequently released without charge.

"This is currently a police matter and we await developments. There will be no further comment at this stage."

Maguire is from Glasgow and turned professional in 1998.

He won two ranking titles in the 2007/08 season - the Northern Ireland Trophy and the China Open.

Burnett, ranked 40th, lives in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.

A Gambling Commission spokesman said it was unable to comment on individual cases.

In a statement issued by his management company, 110sport Group, Maguire said: "I have nothing to say other than I can be doing without this.

"I wish this was over and done with and that I didn't have these allegations hanging over me so I could concentrate entirely on playing snooker.

"All I want to do now is forget today and concentrate on preparing for playing in China next week."

Maguire's legal representative Peter Forbes said: "Police spoke to Stephen, their questioning and points put to him based upon information given to them during their initial interview with my client in the spring of this year.

"Having answered those questions, Stephen was released without charge."

Meanwhile, World Snooker have announced that Peter Ebdon and Liang Wenbo have no case to answer following allegations of involvement in irregular betting matters, centring on a match at last year's Northern Ireland Trophy.

The Gambling Commission investigated claims surrounding the match and have decided neither player will face any action.

In a statement, World Snooker said: "Following reports to the Gambling Commission of suspicious betting activity on a match between Liang Wenbo and Peter Ebdon at last year's Northern Ireland Trophy on 26 August 2008, the Gambling Commission has confirmed this week that they do not propose to take any further action.

"As in all such cases, the WPBSA [World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association] has an obligation to co-operate with the Gambling Commission to protect the integrity of the sport whilst seeking to ensure that the participating members are treated fairly.

"The WPBSA is pleased that after a lengthy and thorough investigation by the Commission, both players have been absolved from any allegation of involvement in irregular betting matters and can concentrate on the new season ahead without further media speculation that has surrounded this issue.

"Based on the decision reached by the Gambling Commission, the WPBSA will be taking no action."