Ronnie O’Sullivan through to final after pulsating 10-7 victory over Mark Selby at Shanghai Masters

Ronnie O’Sullivan powered his way past Mark Selby to progress through to the Shanghai Master semi-final after a 10-7 win in a pulsating semi-final.

The world No. 1 remains on course to defend the title and win it for a fifth time, as he heads into Sunday’s final.

O’Sullivan got off to the brighter start in the morning session, picking up where he left off in his tremendous finish against John Higgins by taking the opening two frames.

The Rocket pounced on a poor safety by Selby to sink a long red that sent him on the way in a tight opener, before putting an absorbing second frame to bed at the fourth time of asking.

Selby responded with the first significant break of the match, a 54, to pull a frame back, before drawing level by pouncing on a surprising O’Sullivan error to get out of trouble.

The tit-for-tat continued as the pair traded frames throughout the morning, with neither able to put consecutive runs together.

O’Sullivan’s 113 break in frame seven was the first century of the day, but Selby immediately responded with 101 and 99 breaks of his own to go 5-4 up as the opening session ended with some high-quality potting and a lead for the Jester for the first time.

After the break, Rocket Ronnie got himself level immediately with a 52 break, before a run of 60 saw Selby edge back in front, only to lose the following frame as the battle ground onwards.

That proved to be the start of a good run of breaks from Selby, who had a 54, 77 and 65 in the following three frames but only won one of those as O’Sullivan drew level at 7-7.

The seven-time world champion then regained the lead for the first time since frame seven with a break of 69 as the finish line started to appear on the horizon.

He didn’t look back from that point and extended his lead with a magnificent break of 109, as he notched century number 1,207 of a stellar career and moved him to within one frame of victory.

Century 1,207 soon became 1,208 with a fantastic clearance of 118 in the 17th and final frame. Neil Robertson or current world champion Luca Brecel lie in wait for the 21-frame final.