Zhang Anda advances past Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach Tianjin final

Zhang Anda claimed a shock 9-6 victory over seven-time World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach the International Championship final in Tianjin.

O’Sullivan failed to replicate his successes in China after he beat Luca Brecel to win the Shanghai Masters in September.

Zhang took a 4-2 lead before O’Sullivan levelled the score at 4-4 in a tense morning session.

And the Brit seemed to have found his rhythm when he stormed into a 6-4 lead after breaks of 52 and 54.

China’s Zhang took the next two frames to ramp up the pressure before he held his nerve to win three more, completing a spectacular fightback in front of his home crowd.

"I feel that the first session of the game was better than the second," Zhang told the World Snooker Tour website.

"When I was 6-4 behind, I tried not to think about the result and slowly adjusted my mentality and did a good job.

"When you are behind, you try to slowly get yourself back into the game. If you do that, you rarely think about winning or losing, you will not be afraid of mistakes and you will be less nervous.

"I personally like to play the long matches, because my performance in these matches is quite good. It makes it easier for me to feel involved and it will slowly get me into the rhythm of the game."

O’Sullivan praised his winning opponent, saying: "He played well and deserved to win. He was the better player on the day, so fair play to him.

"I expected him to be like that as I’ve played him a few times, he was solid. He is a fantastic player, I don’t know where he has been for the last 10 years."