UK Championship 2023: Ronnie O’Sullivan defeats Hossein Vafaei to reach final, will face Judd Trump or Ding Junhui

Ronnie O’Sullivan is just one step away from winning the UK Championship for a record-extending eighth time after he reached the final on Saturday.

The world No. 1 had to battle hard once again to overcome Hossein Vafaei 6-2 in the semi-finals at the Barbican.

O’Sullivan raced into a 2-0 lead before the Iranian produced a fine comeback to even the scores before the interval.

However, The Rocket was the more composed player following the break and delivered to progress into the final.

It was a disappointing end for Vafaei who produced some outstanding snooker to reach the semi-finals for the first time in his career.

O’Sullivan needed to win two deciders to reach the last four but he got off to the perfect start in the semi-finals and found himself with a 2-0 lead.

The Rocket was in fine form in the second frame and wrapped it up with a break of 113 – the 1,228th century of his career.

Vafaei responded well and won his first frame of the match with his 12th ton of the tournament before making it 2-2 before the break.

Following the interval, O’Sullivan regained the lead after a nervous fifth frame from both players and he never looked back.

Vafaei was visibly frustrated with his play after the break where he looked in control for a number of frames before making mistakes which were punished by The Rocket.

O’Sullivan wrapped up his semi-final victory with 90 to reach his ninth UK Championship final and his 30th in a Triple Crown event.

He is now looking to win the tournament 30 years after he became the youngest ranking event winner of all time at the age of 17, with a landmark 10-6 victory over Stephen Hendry in the 1993 final.

His tense 6-5 win over Zhou Yuelong in the quarter-finals, having led 4-1 then trailed 5-4 before finishing with breaks of 77 and 122, was his 100th in the event since he made his debut in 1992.

O’Sullivan will face either Ding Junhui or Judd Trump in Sunday’s final.