World Grand Prix as it happened - Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Stuart Bingham in semi-final to face Neil Robertson

Thanks for your company tonight, join us from 12.45pm tomorrow for the final of the World Grand Prix.

Take care out there, be well.

That was such a bizarre match, an anomaly for a semi-final between players of this quality. Stuart Bingham had a shocker there, and it was a level Ronnie O'Sullivan only barely had to hit over in winning five frames in a row after losing the opener. The final frame of the day was the whole match in microcosm; simple pots missed, poor choices made and frames won out of rhythm after multiple visits. I suspect O'Sullivan won't be happy with how that went either, but he's in the final to face Neil Robertson tomorrow.

Oh my days! Stuart pots the brown brilliantly, a billiards shot into the yellow pocket off the adjacent blue, and the three remaining colours are on to steal! He pots blue, then pink, but he's left the black as cut back to the bottom left...and he's missed it! My word. It jaws out, and Ronnie steps in to convert it from mid-range and win the match. What an ending!

Ronnie has to bash his way out of a snooker on the final red, landing butter side up in terms of fortune as it leaves Stuart snookered behind the black. Stuart misses the red on his escape, and leaves a free ball. That should be end of match, but Ronnie declines to put Stuart back in for some reason, taking on the brown instead and missing it! He's left the red too, and is lucky the brown has run safe. Stuart clears up to the brown and plays safe off it; he needs all four remaining balls to nick this frame by a point.

In barely a heartbeat it's a half-century, and a good recovery pot on a yellow leaves him right on the second to last red. The final red, near the rail below the right middle, is Stuart's hope, and now his saviour; Ronnie can't shift it, and it's end of break on 60.

Ronnie misses a double, before Stuart cues right across a red to green pocket and misses it horribly. That allows Ronnie to get in with a red to bottom right, and this could be the chance he needs. In reaching 24 he affects a superb split on the reds, followed by driving one into the green pocket to keep the break going. All Stuart can do now is watch and hope.

It's another chance for Stuart at the start of frame eight, as Ronnie misses a long red and leaves it on to the green pocket. All of a sudden, Stuart is a different player. He reaches 35 by choking a black into the bottom left, glancing the pack open as he does so, but then misses a red to the right middle without leaving anything.

A 78 from Stuart before drifting in-off finally ends the run of frames against him.

A blue takes Stuart to a half-century, off which he deftly moves three reds away from the black. There he is! It's very, very late in the day, but this is more like it from Stuart and he should sort the frame at this visit.

Ronnie breaks off, and leaves a red on to the left middle. Stuart tags it in; he's a beaten man surely, but can he land a blow on the way down here? He doesn't lack for bottle, Ball Run, and he's making a good fist of it thus far.

It's catching. Ronnie pots red-pink-red but then misses frame ball pink to the right middle. Stuart continues to play worse though, and immediately leaves a red on over the bottom left. A quick 12 from Ronnie puts it to bed; he's won five on the spin, and needs just one more to reach tomorrow's final.

An absolute barrage of red-pinks takes Ronnie to the brink of a half-century, but he then misses a tough cut on a red to bottom right and Stuart has a reprieve! It's a big ask to dish what's left, but he can get right back into this. Sadly for Stuart, it goes awry quickly. After a red and a green, he misses a red to the left middle and he's left it on for Ronnie.

A poor safety from Ronnie leaves Stuart an easy starter to the bottom left. Can he get something going now? Apparently not; after red-green-red he lands the white too close to the blue, and his break is over. He looks really frustrated out there. A safety exchange follows and it's Stuart that cracks first, catching another red on his way back to baulk and gifting Ronnie an easy starter. With the black tied up, Ronnie quickly clears an area around the pink spot and he's away.

A break of 77 in total makes it four in a row for Ronnie.

A red to left middle is frame ball and it goes, and the black thereafter has put the lid on this one. A very quick kill for Ronnie, who is letting his arm go now.

More woes for Stuart as he follows up a beautifully drained long red by missing a blue to the right middle, rolling it out off the knuckles. He's left Ronnie in again, and although it takes a few shots and a bit of cue ball mileage into position he's got it now, and with his break currently on 20 the frame is there for the taking.

We're back, and you feel like this frame will be a pivotal one. Ronnie's not playing well, but Stuart is playing worse; 4-1 might just break the back of this semi-final. After a fluke to start the frame, Ronnie then picks up six when Stuart can't land on the pack off one cushion and hits the pink instead. Four more follow a few shots later when Stuart misses a thin contact safety on a red, and Ronnie soon gets the first red of the frame down, and makes 14 before a split on the pack doesn't work out and forces him to play safe to baulk.

Ronnie glides in the brown, and then a few shots later tidies up blue and pink to take the frame.

We'll be back in 15 minutes to see how it all pans out.

To use football parlance, Stuart is having one. He pots the yellow, but misses a short green to it's own pocket with the rest. Even down the rail, that should have gone. Safety ensues, from which Bingham leaves the green on to the left middle. It goes, but Ronnie can't double the brown thereafter. Stuart needs a snooker, and on we go.

Stuart really is struggling right now. He fails to escape from a snooker, and leaves a free ball for Ronnie. Eight points are soon banked, and Ronnie then lays another snooker that earns him four more. Stuart can only tie now, but a poor shot from Ronnie leaves the red on to the yellow pocket. The red goes, the black does too, and Stuart then plays a snooker on the yellow. Ronnie tries to escape...and he's missed it and left it on! What a chance here to go in level at the interval.

The third to last wobbles before dropping, but after the black Ronnie then misses frame ball red to the bottom right! Stuart then sinks a red, frees the remaining one from the pink, and what a chance to nick it he's got here. A poor shot on the pink though forces him into a thin cut on the final red, and he's missed it by some way.

Ronnie cross-doubles a red from the D, followed by a yellow into the right middle. He's soon into the pack of reds off the black and the split is perfection; Stuart is in right mither here. Switching hands where needed - we barely notice such ambidextrous genius anymore - Ronnie takes the lead in the frame and looks nailed on to win it.

After a re-rack at the start of the fourth, Stuart gets in first by jabbing a red into the yellow pocket with the rest. He starts to find a bit of rhythm, and a confidence-boosting 60/70 plus would do him the power of good after the last few frames. On 33 though it goes the way of the pear, as he misses a red to the bottom left and goes in-off in the bottom right.

A swift 13 from Ronnie puts him into the lead.

This is a big chance for Stuart, as Ronnie throws his cue at a red to right middle. It's close but it doesn't drop, and spits out right over the green pocket. The brown and blue are safe but he can get right back in this, and does; he mops up 19, but he misses the final red to the yellow pocket and he's left that - and the frame - on for Ronnie.

A poor shot in getting on the black leaves Ronnie a difficult red to the yellow pocket, but he launches it right in the heart of it. The half-century soon arrives, before he then misses a tough red to right middle. That's a let off for Stuart, and we've still got 67 out there.

After starting well there's just a few signs of nerves from Stuart, who gets in first in frame three but his break judders to a halt on 12 when he misses a simple red to the bottom left. Both Ronnie and Stuart then miss reds by wild margins, before Ronnie settles things down with a thin cut on a red to the right middle. He soon gets the black back on its spot, and is in prime position now.

Stuart leaves the yellow on to the bottom right, and immediately concedes; it's ones each.

Well well, a frame full of surprises. Ronnie gets to 63 but loses position on the final red and has to play it safe. This is surely frame ball now, and Stuart misses a gift of a chance to pot it when he rattles it out of the bottom left from close range. He then tosses the frame by running the red into the black when playing safe, and leaving it over the bottom left. Ronnie takes red-pink to leave Stuart needing a snooker, but misses the yellow so we go on.

There's a real chance for Ronnie now, as a poor safety from Bingham leaves a red sitting up over the right middle. During his 40 break, Bingham had the chance to open the cluster early and turned it down; he may come to regret that as Ronnie wipes out his lead. There's a brief interlude as a spectator with a baby is asked to leave the arena. 'They should be in bed!' banters the Rocket.

Ronnie gets the first red down in frame two, an outrageous fluke deflecting in off two others, but can't follow up with the yellow and Stuart is in. It's a chance, and Stuart looks right up for this tonight; he's taken five reds and blacks so far. The run comes to a halt though when he misses a red with the rest to the bottom left, but he's not left anything for Ronnie.

Frame back on! Ronnie takes red-black, then lays a snooker on the final red from which Stuart can’t extract himself. It’s quickly back off though, as Stuart pots the final red and lays a snooker, from where Ronnie concedes.

It’s a mere eight for Ronnie, but a superbly judged snooker by him a few shots later earns him four and a free ball. From that he can only add seven more, but he’s right in this with four reds remaining. Stuart fires back though, nailing a red long to the green pocket, and pink-red-pink follow to leave Ronnie needing a snooker with two reds remaining.

Ronnie counters by gliding in a long red to land on the brown. He’ll do well to make a big knock here given that there are five reds bunched near the right rail. This won’t help either; he’s missed a red with the rest to the bottom right, ending the break forthwith. Stuart picks it off instead, and starts adding to his lead. A further 24 before playing safe has put him in command here, but Ronnie's straight back in with a long red.

First blood to Stuart, as he glances a long red into the bottom right and lands nicely on the green thereafter. A swift 21 clears the area around the black spot, and he’s got a good chance now to register a big score. A poor positional shot after reaching 36 however means he's not on his next red, and he plays a containing safety instead.

The players are out, and it’s Ronnie to break. Best of 11 for a place in the final, then.

Stuart needed to win deciders to get through the early rounds, just about edging out Ricky Walden and Jack Lisowski, before hosing down Stephen Maguire 5-1 yesterday. He’s had a poor season so far, failing to make it beyond the third round anywhere, so this run in Coventry represents a welcome return to form.

Ronnie’s advanced with miniscule fuss to the last four, beating Andy Hicks and Hossein Vafaei 4-1 before brushing aside Jimmy Robertson 5-2 yesterday. As has been well publicised, he hasn’t won a ranking event since claiming his sixth world title at the Crucible in August 2020, losing five finals in that time. Is he bothered? Apparently not, given his recent interviews. Still, he’s got a good shy at claiming the 38th of his illustrious career here in Coventry.

Welcome one and all to the second semi-final of the 2021 World Grand Prix. There are only two matches left in this calendar year for snooker; this one will project either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Stuart Bingham through to tomorrow’s final against Neil Robertson.

Your interface of boys and baize is in around 15 minutes.

Stuart Bingham v Ronnie O'Sullivan

Neil Robertson extended his winning run against Mark Selby to book his place in the final of the World Grand Prix with a 6-3 win.

The Australian had won four on the spin against Selby heading into Coventry, and made it five in impressive fashion.

It had the feeling of one-way traffic early on, as Robertson raced out of the blocks with breaks of 82 and 93. Selby took the third and pinched a lengthy fourth as he threatened to derail Robertson, but the Australian came out after the interval in a positive frame of mind and seized control of the match.

Read full report here.

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