World Championship - O'Sullivan v. Hawkins final affair

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the final

We're having a O'Sullivan v. Hawkins final of our hands peeps! And it will surely be a very interesting clash of styles, experience, temperament and ... you fill the space.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, the well-known "black sheep" of snooker, the one who's actually in the posture of defending the title that he so full-deservedly won last year, beat one of the players who announces to carry on the legend of "speedy-naughty-out-of-the-ordinary" snooker, Judd Trump by 17-11.

How can that be possible? Well, it's simple: he really wanted to win the match. With Ronnie things are very easy, if he's enjoying playing snooker and he's not in some sort of "I'm done with this/I'm here just for the money/I just wanna the hell out of here" then he's set for the victory seat.

Trump's out of the Crucible equation

And that proved to be the truth today, as the Rocket started his last session (see the previous ones, here) at full speed, runs of 41 and 32 sending him just one step away from a place in the final, at 16-10.

Trump, who according to his own words said that: "I am here to win the tournament and nothing less than that will do for me", made an attempt to change the course of the match and with a break of 77 he cashed the 27^th frame.

But it was a bit too late, as O'Sullivan ended the affair with just two breaks (31 and 33) to get a place in the final. And by his reaction (smile, fist in the air etc.)  he's ready to win his fifth world title .... well, at least at the end of the match that was his state of mind, could revert to a dark mood tomorrow ... you never know (hopefully not, though, it would be a shame).

One very-happy Hawk

On the other side of the Sheffield’s rainbow, Barry Hawkins did the unthinkable and got back into the match against Ricky Walden, after trailing 6-2 and 11-7.

The second session started with Walden in control of the match's faith at 9-7, control that was re-established at 11-7 with a bit of help from breaks like 20 and 62.

But, because there's always a but (and not that kind of but), Hawkins needed a change in his life. He practically got bored of being led, so he said to himself, why the hell aren't I doing something?

So with a beautiful break of 114 he won the 19^th  frame, while Walden rushed in to take the following one just to restore the four-frame gap.

Hug time

However, that was the only serious contribution that Ricky made during session two, as Barry stormed in and hit in breaks of 104 and 43 to draw level and 12 apiece as the session was coming to an end.

Who would have thought that the OnQ Promotions lad will stop living in the past and prove he's in the semis for a reason?! Many, would be the proper answer, for he’s one hell of a player.

The third and last session continued on the same note, with the Hawk more aggressively than ever, runs of 50, 20, 24, 60 and 79 giving him a well-deserved 16-12 lead.

Devastated Walden loses his chance to reach the final

So not only was Barry the leader of the match for the first time since the beginning of the game, but he was also one frame away from reaching the final.

Still, Ricky prolonged the suspense and tried his best to make a dramatic comeback, that sadly enough ended on winning just two frames, the 31^st one going straight into Barry's account for a 17-14 victory.

An overwhelmed Barry Hawkins got a huge hug from his opponent ( who by all means, played some cracking snooker) and he's not facing one hell of a task: to play against the Rocket. 

Will he make it? Though call. However, this is his first Crucible final appearance and he'll just have to enjoy it. Not ruling out a victory here, but we all know Ronnie and how he's been playing these past few weeks and more that that, how powerful he is when he gets his mind set on something.