Shanghai Masters: Hawkins beats Ding to reach final

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Englishman Barry Hawkins narrowly beat China's Ding Junhui 10-9 in the semifinal of the Shanghai Masters snooker tournament to set up a clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan in Sunday's final.

Saturday's 19-frame eliminator was comprised of two sessions – nine starting in the afternoon and the rest in the evening.

Chinese snooker player Ding Junhui targets the cue ball in the semifinal at Shanghai Masters on September 15. /VCG Photo

The sixth-seeded Ding made clearance till the pink in the first frame with a 79-39 win over Hawkins, seeded seventh, but was then clawed back to 1-1.

In the next two frames, Ding took the early running with breaks of 76 and 67 respectively to take a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval.

Hawkins then responded with a break of 100 in the fifth frame and grabbed Ding's turnovers in sixth to tie up the score at 3-3.

After a 69-31 win in the seventh frame, Ding was again clawed back by Hawkins. The English made 134 and 63 breaks taking a one-frame cushion into the second session.

English snooker player Barry Hawkins targets the cue ball in the semifinal at Shanghai Masters on September 15. /VCG Photo

With a break of 91 in the tenth frame and a seesaw win in the eleventh, Hawkins pushed further into a 7-4 lead at the beginning of the second session.

Ding then clawed back five frames including a run of breaks of 100, 83 and 93, to move ahead 9-7.

But the hot-handed Hawkins responded with two breaks of 101 and 60 to make it 9-9.

Both had prudent starts with defense in the last frame. Hawkins potted the red to the middle pocket on the left to secure an advantage. He managed a 67 break and won the game.