Wilson beats Ding to meet Serby in China Open final

Gary Wilson beat Ding Junhui 6-5 in the semifinal of the China Open snooker tournament here on Saturday, and will meet Mark Serby in Sunday's final.

After upsetting world No.5 Barry Hawkins in Saturday's quarters, Wilson took the initial lead 84-4 in the first frame of the semis. Yet, the local favorite defending champion showed his prowess by winning three frames in a row for 3-1 in the best-of-11 semi.

Back from a half break, Wilson took four straight frames to overthrow the table and was just one frame away from the final. Ding then hit a 97-point and a 72-point break respectively to force the decider.

After Ding broke for the last frame, Wilson took the lead 72-0 before Ding made two successful snookers, and the world No.56 stunned the home favorite 103-36 for the ticket to the final.

"When I was like 3-1 up, I didn't think he is gonna play better after the interval because he missed two long shots. That punished me to lose like four frames in a row? Eh...it surprised me," said Ding.

Wilson will face world No.1 Serby in the final, who eliminated Kurt Maflin Saturday afternoon 6-3 with an impressive 133-point break.

Serby could expect more support on Sunday as he said it would be only like five percent audience to support him if he meets Ding in the final. Endi