Junhui sets sights on O'Sullivan
Teenager Ding Junhui sunk Stephen Lee in the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Trophy tonight.
The Chinese prodigy was in excellent form, romping to a 6-1 victory at the Waterfront Hall, a dazzling display which showed maturity beyond his young years.
And thanks to breaks of 72, 45, 81, 67 and 73, the 19-year-old set up a mouth-watering best-of-17 frame showdown with Ronnie O’Sullivan in tomorrow’s final in Belfast.
Last season’s Welsh Open winner Lee struggled to find his feet as Junhui raced into a 3-0 lead, before the Trowbridge potter eventually got on the board by pinching the last frame prior to the interval by potting a long pink under pressure.
However, Junhui remained focused to win the fifth frame, which dragged on over 40 minutes, pocketing a 67 run to give himself a four-frame cushion.
The seventh frame was a scrappy affair but, after both players had missed, it was Junhui who dished up a 73 to take the match.
“That’s the best I’ve played this week,” said a delighted Junhui, who is close to winning his third ranking event title.
“I missed the blue ball when I could have gone 4-1 up, which put me under a lot of pressure.
“But I was lucky and I played well.”
Having seen O’Sullivan romp to a record 53-minute whitewash of Dominic Dale, Junhui will know he will have to play a lot better than the Welshman if he is to tame “The Rocket“.
But the 2005 China Open champion is looking forward to the challenge, particularly over a longer distance, with this year’s final the best of 17 frames.
“I like to play Ronnie. He’s a good player,” added Junhui, whose snooker hero was O’Sullivan growing up.
“I have to forget he’s my hero and try to win. I just want to play better every match.
“I don’t care about the rankings. Hopefully it is a fast final.”
And Junhui believes the support of his mother, who is over in Ireland for the first time and in Belfast to watch her son, has been a big help.
“It’s good to have my mum here,” he said. “I’m very happy. She cooks for me and it’s very good to have her here.”
O’Sullivan and Junhui have only ever met twice before. In 2004 the Londoner stunned the then 17-year-old with a 6-1 victory, before Junhui shared a 3-3 draw with the two-time world champion in the Premier League.
