Ronnie O'Sullivan overcomes losing cue tip to edge Marco Fu in Masters epic, Joe Perry stuns Hawkins

ByDesmond Kane

Updated 22/01/2017 at 04:13 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan recovered from losing the tip on his cue to reach the Masters final for a 12th time with a rousing 6-4 win over Marco Fu in a magnificent semi-final at Alexandra Palace.

Fu produced another fine performance contributing runs of 89, 110, 141 and 83, but had to settle for second best as six-times champion O'Sullivan clicked into top gear before a typically animated London crowd with breaks of 95, 122, 47, 63, 82 and 69 enough to secure his progress.

Joe Perry recovered from trailing 5-2 and needing a snooker to complete an astonishing 6-5 win over Barry Hawkins in the second semi-final to set up a best-of-19-frames final with O'Sullivan on Sunday.

"I'm absolutely devastated," said Hawkins. "After that frame, he started playing a lot better. I'm gutted. It is horrible when it happens like that.

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"I felt stronger than Joe at the start, but he played a lot better in the end."

Joe Perry celebrates greatest moment after 26 years in snooker

Perry's run to the final is his career highlight after 26 years after turning professional. At the age of 42, he is a year older than his opponent.

"I really can't believe it. When Barry potted the ball to leave me a snooker, I was thinking about what to say to him and wish him all the best for Sunday," said Perry. "This game is mad, it never ceases to amaze

"It is the best win of my career. I have to go out against O'Sullivan and play to the best of my ability. You don't know what can happen. From the go, I will go out there to win and not just enjoy the occasion."

O'Sullivan seemed to improve after his tip split in the third frame that forced an earlier mid-session interval by a frame as he trailed 2-1, eventually turning over a 3-2 and 4-3 deficit when Fu looked likelier.

O'Sullivan slots a glorious long red

Buoyed by a new tip, he suddenly found the level of form missing in his 6-5 win over Liang Wenbo and 6-3 success over Neil Robertson in the opening two rounds, producing a masterclass in potting and break-building that has brought him five world titles over the past 16 years.

O'Sullivan will bid for a record seventh Masters title to move ahead of the mark of six he shares with the retired Stephen Hendry.

He drubbed Hawkins 10-1 in the final last year, and will start a strong favourite to make it a seventh win, 22 years after his first at the sport's biggest invitational event.

Marco Fu gets brilliant support from wife and thrilled daughter at Ally Pally

Semi-final results

Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 4-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)

99-1 (89), 52-83, 111-0 (110) 0-95 (4-95) (141) 141-0, 0-122 (122), (83) 83-47 (47), 7-118 (63), 1-128 (82), 0-70 (69)

Joe Perry (England) 6-5 Barry Hawkins (England)

73-51 (Hawkins 51), 0-77 (77), 86-38, 0-85 (58), 0-98 (53), 40-61, 61-81, 73-64 (Hawkins 58), (57) 75-41, (62) 63-8, 76-50 (70)

Desmond Kane at Alexandra Palace

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