Masters: Ronnie O’Sullivan Beats Barry Hawkins To Win Sixth Title

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN could claim a record-equalling sixth Masters title today after holding off a late fightback from Stuart Bingham last night.

40-year-old O’Sullivan was highly critical of his performance in his semi-final win over Bingham, saying he felt “embarrassed” and “had no touch or feel”.

He will now play Barry Hawkins in an all-English semi-final.

An incredibly high-quality encounter featured six century breaks – a record – and it was the Englishman who booked a semi-final with Barry Hawkins on Saturday afternoon.

This is O’Sullivan’s first major event in nine months and he rattled off breaks of 121 and 81 to book his eleventh Masters final appearance. It is about producing when it matters.

The fourth frame was a tighter affair and Hawkins missed a simple black to allow O’Sullivan to compile a lead and although Hawkins then did well to clear the reds from the cushions, a missed yellow allowed O’Sullivan to clear and snatch the frame.

“I was so relieved at the end because I didn’t want to play like that and lose”, said Trump.

But O’Sullivan was lukewarm on his chances of adding a sixth world title to his sixth Masters crown.

“This is only a week, but to keep your focus for 17 days at the World Championship is a grind, we’ll see how it goes”.

But the world number five was stunned early on as Hawkins reeled off two centuries of his own, 130 and then 128, to take the first two frames.

“I wish he retired”, Hawkins jokingly said of O’Sullivan.

SCOTTISH interest at the Masters ended on Friday evening and John Higgins admitted he simply could not get his game going after crashing out at the quarter-final stage.

“I’m not sure if it’s because my back is out of place so it’s messing around with my posture and technique”, he told the BBC.

When you’re that good, even your bad shots are mouthwatering.

But he took the lead after winning a scrappy opening frame in which both players passed up the opportunity to build a lead.