Snooker scores LIVE: Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Ding Junhui in UK Championship final | Other | Sport

Ronnie O’Sullivan faces Ding Junhui in the UK Championship final on Sunday as he bids to win a record-extending eighth title. The Rocket has found form at the perfect time this week and will take some beating at the Barbican Centre in York.

After slumping through his opening two matches, the 47-year-old then breezed past Robert Milkins and Hossein Vafaei. After defeating the Iranian star in his semi-final, O’Sullivan joked that one of the reasons he is yet to retire is to hamper the careers of the younger generation who are bidding to outdo him.

“I’m just hanging around,” O’Sullivan said to the BBC after his 6-2 win over Vafaei. “I just like to think they won’t have as good as a career, beat Judd here, this one here, this one there. I am just here to spoil their parties and ruin their CVs. I don’t care about winning, making them think ‘I could have had another few if it wasn’t for him’.”

He could do just that against Ding, who defeated Judd Trump 6-4 in a semi-final that went late into Saturday night. The Chinese player has won this tournament three times and is a favourite at the Barbican, with just O’Sullivan standing in his way over two sessions today.