Masters snooker LIVE: Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Shaun Murphy to reach final

Ronnie O’Sullivan stormed into a 14th Masters final with a 6-2 win over Shaun Murphy and then called on snooker’s young pretenders to up their game.

The 48-year-old moved one victory away from becoming the oldest winner of this Triple Crown event with four half-century breaks enough to down old rival Murphy in their first meeting for five years.

Murphy reeled off two superb three-figure breaks, including 131 in the third frame, but O’Sullivan’s cavalier approach paid dividends with reds aplenty potted in this semi-final to delight a packed Alexandra Palace crowd.

“I don’t feel that old,” O’Sullivan, the youngest ever Masters winner, told BBC. “I know my age but I feel young in my mind and I feel young when I am around the table.

“I feel a lot younger round the table than I do when I play these young players. They look old! Their brains are quite slow so for me, I feel like my brain is pretty quick around the snooker table, which is enough.

“Yeah, they need to get their act together because I am going blind, I have a dodgy arm and bad knees. And they still can’t beat me!”

Here’s some flash reaction form Ronnie O’Sullivan after beating Shaun Murphy 6-2 to reach another Masters final

O’Sullivan into a 14th Masters final in 30 years of coming to the tournament, which is a frankly ridiculous record. He’ll face either Mark Allen or Ali Carter, who square off in the other semi-final later this evening.

O’Sullivan can become the oldest man to win the Masters with victory - much like the UK Championship, he’s already the youngest-ever winner. That final will be over two sessions at 1pm and 7pm.

O’Sullivan finishes it off with a break of 19 to win the final frame 81-8. An unbelievable performance! Incredible from The Rocket.

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN BEATS SHAUN MURPHY 6-2 AND REACHES THE MASTERS FINAL!

Murphy might have thought he was out of the tournament but needs to compose himself. Lovely red up into the green pocket to get him going but then the mistake.

Over-cuts a red to the right corner and leaves it for O’Sullivan. This will be match over.

This is curtains for Murphy now, surely? A pink to the corner moves O’Sullivan beyond 50 and he just needs one final split of the pack off the black.

Again, not perfect and he misses the pot to right middle! It was tough, across the nap of the cloth but the way he is playing you fancied him for it. Murphy trails 62-0 but at least he’s alive in the frame.

Oof! O’Sullivan crunches a red into the pocket across the table to get himself in among the balls again. Six loose reds easily potted and once he reaches 34, he goes into the pack.

The black makes it 41 but the split isn’t quite right. But it doesn’t matter! Pulls out a double to right middle - absolutely incredible!

O’Sullivan is now three frames ahead with four to play. HArd to see a way back into it for Murphy but he has to keep believing.

And there is no mistake from O’Sullivan. A drama-free break and moves beyond the snookers-required stage. He reaches 71 and tries a long red up into the green pocket but it misses.

BUT O’SULLIVAN MOVES WITHIN A FRAME OF VICTORY AT 5-2

It feels like O’Sullivan has kicked up a gear and this is looking a bit ominous for Murphy. The Rocket moves beyond 20 and although a positional shot is slightly raggedy, he calmly pots the blue to right middle and lands nicely on the next red.

The goes into the 30s and then the 40s. Hard to see where a mistake will come from.