SNOOKER: Mark Allen knocked out of Champion of Champions by Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan rattled in three centuries as he booked his place in the final of the Dafabet Champion of Champions in Coventry with a 6-2 win over Northern Ireland's Mark Allen.

By The Newsroom

Published 12th Nov 2016, 15:26 BST

Updated 16th Nov 2016, 16:51 BST

O’Sullivan had to be on top form to repel Allen, who scored two centuries of his own as he twice dragged the match back level in the early stages.

But the former world champion was in the mood to get the job done and successive breaks of 73, 124 and 109 moved him within one frame of victory.

Antrim man Allen made the first move but O’Sullivan coolly wrapped up the match with a break of 59 to set up a final clash with fellow veteran John Higgins.

Higgins - winner of the Evergrande China Championship in Guangzhou last week - continued his superb run of form with a 6-5 win over Ding Junhui in the other semi-final.

Ding hit four centuries in the match as he twice pulled back an early deficit then nudged his way into 3-2 and 5-4 leads respectively.

But nerveless Higgins won the last two frames to move closer to claiming back-to-back titles at the age of 41.