Gary Wilson raced into a 6-2 lead over Martin O'Donnell in the first session of the BetVictor Welsh Open final, and needs just three more frames to clinch the third ranking title of his career.
The match resumes at 7pm at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, and first to nine frames will collect the Ray Reardon Trophy and £80,000 top prize. O'Donnell, playing in his first ranking final, was nervy in the early stages as he fell 4-0 behind, and needs seven of the last nine in the concluding session.
Wilson settled fast, making a break of 98 to take the opening frame. He took control of the second with a run of 52, and though O'Donnell battled at length for snookers on the colours, he was not able to gain a foothold. Wilson also dominated the next two with a top run of 55 to go 4-0 ahead.
After the interval, O'Donnell made a 66 to pull one back, before Wilson controlled the next for 5-1. Frame seven came down to the colours and O'Donnell, leading 45-39, missed a mid-range yellow to a baulk corner, handing his opponent the chance to clear and extend his lead. In the last frame of the session, Wilson missed the black off the opening red, and O'Donnell responded with an excellent 92 to keep alive his hopes of a fight-back.
Wallsend's 38-year-old Wilson is playing in his fifth ranking final, and looking for his third title having won his maiden crown at the 2022 BetVictor Scottish Open, and successfully defended the same event just two months ago. Victory today would make him the only player other than Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump to win multiple ranking titles this season, and he would become the 29th player in snooker history to win three (or more) ranking events.
Officially ranked 16th, he will move up to 12th if he wins the final today, or 13th if he loses. He could also go as high as fourth in the one-year rankings, and the top prize tonight would move him into the race to qualify for the new Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker. Wilson's fine form this week was highlighted by a 147 during his semi-final against John Higgins, one of four centuries he has made in the event.
O'Donnell is playing in his first ranking final, having lost his only previous semi-final at the 2018 Shoot Out. Ranked 76th, he is looking to join the recent sequence of surprise winners of this event, following Jordan Brown, Joe Perry and Robert Milkins. The 37-year-old Londoner suffered a severe slump which culminated in relegation from the tour in 2022, but he regained his card a year later and has played the best snooker of his career this week, notably in a quarter-final success against Luca Brecel and a superb century to win the deciding frame of his semi-final with Elliot Slessor.
Guaranteed a career-high pay day of £35,000, O'Donnell will jump up the rankings to 60th if he loses the final and 43rd if he wins. Victory would also boost him into the top 16 of the one-year list and earn him a place in next week's Johnstone's Paint Players Championship, as well as next season's Champion of Champions.
