Ronnie O'Sullivan came from 3-1 down to lead Mark Williams 5-3 in the first session of the final of the Johnstone's Paint Tour Championship in Manchester.
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The 'Class of 1992' final, between two of the all-time greats who turned professional in that year, has lived up to expectations so far as the standard of play has been superb, with three centuries and five more breaks over 50 in the eight frames so far. The contest resumes at 7pm on Sunday and first to ten frames will lift the trophy.
Williams took the opener with a break of 66 before O'Sullivan dominated frame two. Breaks of 91, 66 and 67 helped Williams take a 3-1 advantage. After the interval, O'Sullivan found his scoring rhythm, taking four frames in just 37 minutes. Breaks of 102, 127 and 59 put him 4-3 ahead, then in the last frame of the session, Williams potted the opening red but missed the black, and O'Sullivan capitalised with a 121.
O'Sullivan could be on course for the best season of his career, having already won the Shanghai Masters, MrQ UK Championship, MrQ Masters, Spreadex World Grand Prix and Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker. Only once before has he captured six titles in a single season - that was back in 2000/01. He has already earned more prize money in a single campaign than any player in history, and if he lands the top prize that tally will reach £1,305,500. The 48-year-old is sure to be world number one when he heads to the Crucible and is enjoying an unbroken sequence of more than two years at the top of the rankings.
The Rocket is playing in his 64th ranking final and is looking for a 42nd title. This season he has played in 11 knockout tournaments and victory would give him a sixth trophy - a tremendous strike rate. He has won this title once before - on its inaugural staging in 2019.
Williams is playing in his 41st ranking event final having won 25 of his previous 40. Having won the Cazoo British Open in September, he is looking to land multiple ranking titles in the same season for the first time since 2017/18. That British Open success made him the oldest ranking event winner other than a 50-year-old Ray Reardon, so having turned 49 last month he could get even closer to Reardon's record today. Currently ranked eighth, the Welshman could move up to sixth if he lands the £150,000 top prize.
This match sets a new record for the combined age of the two players in a ranking final (97). O'Sullivan has won 33 of their 42 previous meetings, including 22 of the last 24. Surprisingly, they have not met in a ranking final since the 2000 China Open - indeed they contested three ranking finals that year, O'Sullivan winning two of them.