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The Pukka Pies UK Championship snooker final, will not be the one that everybody expected, or hoped for, going into the semi finals. For all the world it looked as if there would be a Sunday showdown between Stephen Maguire and Ronnie O’Sullivan, but it is not to be. Maguire, ranked number two, fell in Friday’s first semi final to Chinaman Ding Junhui, who many never expected to be anywhere near the final. But Ding produced some of the best snooker of the tournament to beat the much fancied Maguire, setting himself up for the big final on Sunday.

The semi final that took all of the public’s imagination though, was the battle between Ronnie O’Sullivan, the World Number One, and John Higgins, the current World Champion. O’Sullivan, once again, has looked to be breezing through games, without ever hitting top form, and John Higgins punished him by racing out to a 8-2 lead. But then O’Sullivan dug deep and almost produced a famous comeback. Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan though started to live up to his name, and rattled off six frames in a row, finding his groove. This put the wind up the Scot Higgins, who started to crumble, but he was the one who staged the biggest comeback when it was necessary. With the scores at 8 frames each, it was Higgins who steeled himself to take the victory.

So the final of the Pukka Pies UK Championship will be contested between Ding Junhui vs. John Higgins. Sessions start at 1pm and 7pm, but this time, unlike the rest of the tournament, it will be the best of 19 frames instead of 17. Higgins will start as favourite after beating Ding 7 times out of the last nine meetings between the two.

John Higgins to win: 4/9 at Paddy Power
Ding Junhui to win: 13/8 at Paddy Power