O'Sullivan pots it as Carter errs

BELFAST // Ronnie O'Sullivan, who won an exceptional semi-final 6-5 against Ali Carter at Belfast's Waterfront, was just two frames from becoming the Northern Ireland Trophy winner at the halfway stage of the final last night. He was leading the surprise finalist Dave Harold 6-1 in their best-of-17 match. O'Sullivan's semi-final was certainly the match of the tournament. There were 11 breaks of more than 50 in the 11 frames, and a dramatic finish.

At 5-5, O'Sullivan was first among the balls in the decider but on 52 he had to play safe. Carter though looked composed as he steadily built a reply, but on 51, with the final red on the top cushion, he rattled it in the jaws to allow O'Sullivan a second chance. The world champion was snookered on the red but came off the side cushion to pot it and gain position. He then cooly dished up to claim the win and give himself a chance of collecting back to back ranking events four months apart.

"I was surprised he didn't clear up," said O'Sullivan, "as I expected the worst when he got in. You wouldn't expect a player of Ali's calibre to miss with the balls open. It wasn't an easy shot on the last red down the rail. But I'd much rather be playing it than sitting there watching." Looking ahead to his 30th ranking final, O'Sullivan, 32, said: "Dave has done brilliantly to get this far. He's had a hard draw, beating among others John Higgins and anyone who beats him knows their way around the table."

Harold, 41, from Stoke, had been the scourge of the Scots all week, beating Dott, the defending champion Stephen Maguire and then two-times world champion Higgins to reach his first final since the 1994 Grand Prix, when he lost 9-6 to Higgins. [e-mail]