Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui all level with final on a knife edge at UK Championship 2023

Ding Junhui fired back to produce a 4-4 scoreline at the end of the afternoon session against Ronnie O’Sullivan, having been 3-1 down in the UK Championship final.

O’Sullivan had two aborted breaks at the start of the first frame as he moved 25-0 clear, but Ding allowed him back in and it was third time lucky, with a break of 71 giving him an early advantage.

The second frame saw Ding get going with an excellent long pot, and he developed nicely around the black and involving the blue as he went 63-0 up, but in a shot that could have clinched the frame the pink clipped the jaw of the middle-right pocket to leave his lead at 63-37, only for O’Sullivan to return to take the frame.

In frame three, Ding started well but mis-cut a black to limit his first visit score to 38. O’Sullivan was ruthless as he put away a 91 break, dealing well with two awkward reds, and needing a rest to get around the table. A nudge off the blue set him up well for the brown, and he had little trouble with the remaining colours to win 91-38.

In the fourth frame, Ding built up a brief run on the table, but a sloppy shot forced him to play safety, which O’Sullivan escaped.

Ding missed a long pot, which allowed O’Sullivan back in until he undercut a red into the middle-left pocket to leave the table 31-10 up.

Ding then returned with an impressive 89 clearance to wrap up the frame, his first of the match-up.

In the fifth frame, O’Sullivan took a 40-16 lead before an extended period of safety play with four remaining reds. An outstanding long-range pot from Ding set his rival up with a tough snooker behind the yellow that gave him the chance to edge back in front, 45-40, but another error from Ding allowed the Englishman to regain his three-frame advantage.

O’Sullivan inadvertently fouled when using the rest and bridge rest, and allowed Ding to cut the deficit once more as he fell short of a half-century break.

Ding then started to show more verve at the table as he attacked the bunch, taking a risk but earning a chance to build a sizeable break with some outstanding cueing, though there was a moment’s worry when a blue just dropped into the middle-right pocket when it looked ready to stop agonisingly short.

At that point, he needed a red and another colour, which he achieved while attempting to open up more reds, before picking off a tough one to the bottom-left as he deftly built a frame-winning 115 century break.

While Ding’s positional play sometimes required the rest, he was fluid when he had to use it and he set about putting together another hefty score in the session’s final frame as he moved 70 clear.

With 75 remaining, O’Sullivan was allowed back in when Ding was stuck with a touching ball, but he failed to take his chance with an awkward red hanging over the left pocket, and Ding came back in to tie the scores ahead of an intriguing evening session.