Zhao Xingtong reels off five straight frames to beat Ricky Walden 6-3 and reach German Masters final

Zhao Xintong reeled off the last five frames to reach the final of the German Masters with a 6-3 win over Ricky Walden. In a match that featured plenty of costly misses by both players, Walden had a gilt-edged chance to take a 4-1 lead but missed a relatively easy green that allowed Zhao to steal the frame. And Walden never recovered as the Chinese player kept his composure down the stretch to book his spot in the final.

Ad/> It was another impressive victory by Zhao, who is coming off a breakthrough win at the UK Championship and beat Mark Williams and Judd Trump at the Berlin Tempodrom on his way to the semis. He'll face the winner between Mark Allen and Yan Bingtao in the final. German MastersZhao secures statement win to knock Trump out of German Masters20 HOURS AGO Zhao made a shaky start, though, and Walden jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the opening session after making the most of several unforced errors from his opponent.

The Englishman opened with a break of 74 after Zhao missed a black at short range and left his opponent an easy red to get going. Both players then missed chances to take control of the second frame but it was Zhao’s mistake at 45-42 up that proved decisive as Walden managed to close it out for a 2-0 lead. Zhao Xintong secures statement win to knock defending champion Judd Trump out of German Masters 'Best venue in the world' — Zhao Xintong hails Berlin Tempodrom as snooker's greatest arena Walden had a 14-0 lead in the third before making an error when attempting to run safe, and that gave Zhao the chance he needed to settle into the match.