Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui will roll back the years when they square off in the UK Snooker Championship final in York on Sunday.

Their clash comes 30 years after O’Sullivan reached his first UK final as a 17-year-old in 1993, while Ding’s first taste of UK glory came in 2005 when he saw off four-time winner Steve Davis at the age of 18.

The pair came through their respective semi-finals in contrasting circumstances on Saturday, with O’Sullivan easing past Hossein Vafaei 6-2, while Ding held his nerve to deny Judd Trump with a 6-4 win in the evening session.

O’Sullivan and Ding – still the two youngest winners of the prestigious trophy – boast 10 UK titles between them and the world number one quipped that he was motivated by the desire to deny his rivals the chance of more silverware.

“I’m just hanging around so people don’t get as good as a career as me,” joked O’Sullivan, who ruthlessly exploited a series of costly errors from his Iranian opponent to seal by far his most comfortable victory of a gruelling week.

“If I could stop (Mark) Selby winning a few and Judd winning a few, and Ding and (Neil) Robertson winning a few – just ruin their careers a little bit – that would be great. Sometimes that’s just a nice motivation to play.”

O’Sullivan, who had previously laboured through final-frame deciders against Robert Milkins and Zhou Yuelong, was still far from his best but managed to ruthlessly exploit a string of errors by Vafaei, who spurned a good chance in five of the six frames won by his opponent.

“I feel as fresh as a daisy,” added a revitalised O’Sullivan afterwards.

“These tournaments are not a problem. I can do it quite comfortably. I’m still happy to have got this far, it’s great and I have enjoyed my week.”

Sunday’s clash will also see a repeat of last year’s quarter-final when Ding dealt out a rare 6-0 whitewash to O’Sullivan before going on to the final, where he surrendered a 6-1 lead to fall 10-7 to Mark Allen.

The Chinese 36-year-old, who also won the tournament in 2009 and 2019, had arrived in York considering withdrawal due to a serious bout of ‘flu, but like O’Sullivan, had managed to chisel out final-frame wins over Allen, then Mark Williams in Friday’s last eight.

Trump, also clearly still feeling the effects of illness, had reached the last four despite playing far from his best and will have been motivated by the possibility of facing O’Sullivan in the final with the title and the world number one ranking also at stake.

Trump started well with two centuries in the first eight frames but he could not shake off the dogged Ding, with the pair locked together at 4-4 before Ding nudged through a tense ninth to put himself one frame from victory.

Trump had the first chance to stretch the tie into another decider but jawed a relatively-simple red to middle and Ding stepped in with a nerveless 84 clearance to black, including a stunning long red after straying out of position, to seal his swift return in the final.

Ding, who routinely saves his best form for York, admitted such a scenario had seemed impossible when he was ailing midway through his first-round match against Allen.

“A lot of fans were watching and I just wanted to finish it – it didn’t matter how well I played, maybe I lost and would go home, I’d just try my best,” he admitted.

Of his win over Trump, Ding added: “It was a very tough match and the last few reds were a bit scrappy, but to pot that long red and go on to win the frame is saying something to myself.

“I hadn’t seen myself playing like that for a long time.”

Downbeat Ronnie O’Sullivan has warned he will continue “stinking out gaffes” after he limped into the quarter-finals of the UK Snooker Championship with a 6-5 win over Robert Milkins in York.

O’Sullivan, who is playing in trainers due to suffering from the heel injury plantar fasciitis, made his frustration clear as he almost blew a 5-3 lead before rallying to earn a last-eight slot against Zhou Yuelong.

“I don’t understand how this game works,” shrugged O’Sullivan. “I gave up a long time ago. I just keep turning up and stinking out gaffes. I stunk it out today and I’ll stink it out tomorrow. You’ll have to get a mask to watch me play.”

Despite hitting a 142 in frame five, O’Sullivan, who is aiming for a record eighth UK crown, was far from his best, and expressed his irritation after serving up one of three glorious opportunities for Milkins in the decider by dropping his cue onto the table.

But Milkins, whose solitary win over O’Sullivan in 11 previous attempts had come at the single-frame Shoot-Out in 2002, failed to capitalise, missing a pink then a simple red to middle, before finally dangling a red over the bottom pocket that effectively sealed his fate.

The win extended O’Sullivan’s stay in the city for at least one more day, ring-fencing enough ranking points to give him hope of preserving his status prior to the festive period, when he intends to skip the Scottish Open then jet off for a Christmas Day exhibition in Macau.

“I just don’t want it bad enough any more,” added O’Sullivan. “I’m having to dig deep. When I was younger I didn’t have to dig deep, I was so hungry, and now I’m just thinking I don’t really care.

“It’s nice if I get through but I don’t actually want to work that hard. That’s why I like doing my exhibitions, my own shows in China. It’s still competitive but it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, you can have a drink after and a bite to eat.

“Competitive sport is hard, it’s not just about how good you are but how much you want it. I still want to play, I still like the lifestyle and the travelling. But I’m not going to kill myself out there, it’s not worth it.”

O’Sullivan’s judgement was off from the start, allowing Milkins, whose career has been revitalised since his first ranking title win at the Welsh Open in February which sent him into the world’s top 16 for the first time, to capitalise and establish a 2-0 lead.

It should have got even better for Milkins, who had a glorious chance to go 3-0 in front before a simple missed red allowed O’Sullivan to produce a quickfire response of 86, followed by a 53 in the fourth frame which took him into the interval level at 2-2.

A brilliant 142 total clearance sent O’Sullivan in front for the first time, and another Milkins error in the next, when he broken down on a black on 52, allowed O’Sullivan to sweep up to go 4-2 in front.

The game’s momentum continued to swing, as Milkins reduced the deficit with a coolly-dispatched 91, then O’Sullivan responded with an 83 to edge one frame from victory.

Milkins hit back again, with a superb 120 before O’Sullivan missed a simple missed blue in the next, showing more frustration with a rash attempt to escape from a snooker that served up his opponent with the simplest of chances to pull level.

Milkins could hardly have hoped for a better chance to end his career-long drought over multi-frame matches, but the nerves clearly got the better of him, and he was inevitably made to pay for his misses as O’Sullivan rallied to clinch a thoroughly underwhelming win.

John Higgins’ hopes of setting up another showdown with his long-time rival were dashed when he fell 6-3 to Zhou in another erratic affair, sending the Chinese player into the quarter-finals for only the second time in his career.

Zhou was whitewashed in both previous meetings with O’Sullivan in York, in 2018 and in last year’s last 16, but said: “I have beaten some good players this week and it has given me confidence that this time against Ronnie it will be different.”

Judd Trump stormed into the quarter-finals of the UK Championship with a 6-0 win over Jamie Jones in York.

The 34-year-old had been suffering the apparent effects of flu as he arrived at the tournament, but followed up his opening 6-1 victory win over Pang Junxu with another convincing display.

Trump – who became only the fifth player in history to win three back-to-back ranking tournaments last month – never looked back after starting with a break of 100, for a 950th career century.

Welshman Jones continued to be punished for mistakes, with Trump capitalising to take the third frame with a break of 59 before another half-century saw him heading into the interval with a commanding 4-0 lead.

Although Jones built a potential frame-winning chance when back on the table, his run ended at 44 which allowed Trump to close out the fifth before sealing victory in the next by 84-0.

Trump has reached the final of the UK Championship three times, winning his solitary title in 2011, and on current form looks a strong contender for this year’s trophy.

“I feel like if I can get through those first couple of rounds then I’m playing amazing and it takes something really special to beat me,” Trump said to BBC Sport following his win over Jones.

“A lot of other players perform the same in all conditions, but my cue action, where I come across the ball and hit with a little bit of side at impact, I have to get used to how the table is playing with side a lot more than other players.

“The first game I am really nervous, but when I know how I am playing on the table it just becomes easy for me.”

Trump will face either Mark Selby or Barry Hawkins in the last eight.

“I am full of confidence, but also the opposition hasn’t stood up to me, which sometimes I don’t really like because you get through too easy and you’re not pushed,” Trump said.

“I know in the next game whoever I play, I am going to have to up my standard.”

On the other table during Wednesday’s afternoon session at the Barbican, Ding Junhui saw off Tom Ford 6-3 to reach the last eight.

Ding opened with breaks of 126 and 110, but Ford hit back with runs of 118 and 98 to level the match.

It remained a close contest as Ford battled to stay in touch, before Ding edged the eighth frame and then closed out victory with a break of 106, which should secure his place in next year’s Masters.

Ding Junhui clambered off his sickbed to sink defending champion Mark Allen in a final frame decider in a dramatic opening match of this year’s UK Championship in York.

The former three-time winner revealed he was on the verge of pulling out of the tournament on Saturday morning after waking with a soaring temperature and spells of dizziness.

But Ding somehow steadied himself to haul back a 4-2 deficit then summon a nerveless 102 clearance to chisel a 6-5 victory in a first-round repeat of last year’s final, in which the Chinese player blew a sizeable lead to lose 10-7.

“In the morning I thought about pulling out because I couldn’t get out of bed,” said Ding. “My alarm was calling me to wake up but I couldn’t.

“My temperature was up to 39 and I couldn’t walk straight, I couldn’t walk over (to the venue). But I think I wanted to play because I am here for the tournament, so I will just try to play well.”

It was another remarkable chapter in Ding’s relationship with the sport’s second biggest tournament, which began when he came from nowhere to reel off a string of big wins and become the first overseas winner of the Championship in 2005.

A dramatic match had been slow to catch fire, with both players making mistakes as they shared the first four frames prior to the mid-session interval.

Allen was first to step up his game when he seized on a second chance in the fifth frame with a clearance to black of 106, and he extended his advantage to two after a messy sixth in which both players spurned golden chances.

But just when Ding was beginning to look down and out he drew on all his UK experience to reel off three counter-attacking frames in a row to move within one of an unlikely victory.

The Chinese player was first to show some nerves, a missed black off the spot gifting Allen the chance to pull level, which the Antrim man duly took with a decisive break of 70.

Allen had the first chance in the decider but missed an easy red to the middle and Ding held his illness at bay long enough to summon his first century of the match and seal his place in the last 16 – much to Allen’s surprise.

“It’s definitely one that got away, and not just because of the red in the last frame,” said Allen.

“I felt like I did all the hard stuff well today, and I honestly felt like I did all right. I felt in control of the match completely, and I think if Ding is honest in his assessment he’ll wonder how he won it.

“It’s a hard one to take because I’ve just lost in the UK Championships but I’ve played a lot worse. Maybe this is one that I’ll watch back to see what happened, because I felt in control at all times until I lost.”

Mark Williams admitted he never got out of second gear but still did enough to see off Fan Zhengyi 6-4 and join Ding in the last 16.

The Welshman, whose best break was an 86 to nudge over the line, is a two-time UK champion and keen to avoid the mishaps which hampered his chances of making it a trio of successes in recent years.

“This tournament hasn’t really been good for me in the last few years,” admitted Williams. “Once during Covid I fell asleep live on TV, then last year I had to run out every couple of frames.

“But I’ll go home in between matches this time and try to change the jinx of the UK. The reception was unbelievable, the conditions were perfect – everything was perfect except my play. I was struggling a bit, but I loved it.”

Neil Robertson is unconcerned by the prospect of plunging out of the world’s top 16 as he aims to resurrect a challenging campaign by clinching a fourth UK Snooker Championship title in York.

The 41-year-old Australian heads into the sport’s second biggest tournament – which starts on Saturday at the city’s Barbican Centre – having failed to get beyond the last 64 in any of his six ranking events so far this season.

In recent months, Robertson has spoken candidly about suffering from homesickness and will take a short break from the game when he jets home next month to spend the festive season with his family for the first time since prior to his solitary world title win in 2010.

Falling out of the sport’s elite is unthinkable for a player of Robertson’s calibre, but he remains upbeat about his prospects of turning his season around ahead of his return to one of his most profitable venues.

Robertson told the PA news agency: “I’ve been through similar things a couple of times before and it doesn’t really bother me.

“I’ve struggled to get up for some matches and my opponents have been on a roll and punished me for a few mistakes. I haven’t put in too many shocker performances. It’s just part of sport and you go through it now and again.

“I dropped out of the top 16 briefly before (in 2017), then I won the Scottish Open and went on to have quite a dominant spell for the next two years.

“When I dropped out, I remember it actually being a bit of a relief because you feel like you’ve experienced the worst of it. It wouldn’t bother me at all if I had to qualify for the Crucible, it’s not really in my thinking.”

Robertson had cut a forlorn figure when he lost to Jak Jones in the second round of this year’s World Championship, a defeat that stretched his winless streak at the Crucible to 13 years and shortly afterwards he realised it was time to take drastic action.

“When it really hit me was when I was watching my AFL team, Collingwood, win the Grand Final and all my family was watching it together back home and close friends I hadn’t really seen in the last 20-odd years,” added Robertson.

“I was Facetiming the people back home, they were having a barbecue on the day, there were my nephews who I hadn’t really seen much of and I thought, jeez it’s been 20 years of missing out on those moments. I found it really hard.”

Before his overdue return home, Robertson begins his quest to become only the fourth player to win four or more UK titles when he faces Zhou Yuelong – whom he beat in the semi-finals when he last triumphed three years ago – in the first round on Tuesday.

Defending champion Mark Allen gets the tournament under way on Saturday in a repeat of last year’s final against Ding Junhui, while Ronnie O’Sullivan – looking for a record eighth crown – also starts on Tuesday against Anthony McGill.

For Robertson, the return to a stand-alone last 32 event is a welcome development in the history of the prestigious tournament and one he believes will motivate the best players to bring out their best on the day.

“It’s a tournament that everyone gets up for,” added Robertson.

“It’s got a great history, it gets great coverage and it all adds up to the type of tournament that when you’re used to playing at the top of the game, you really want to win.”