China Open: Peter Ebdon to face Stephen Maguire in final

Qualifier Peter Ebdon came from behind to shock home favourite Ding Junhui and reach the final of the China Open.

The Englishman trailed 3-1 at one stage but responded in impressive fashion, eventually taking the match 6-3.

Scot Stephen Maguire earlier booked his place in Sunday's final with a comfortable 6-2 victory over England's Stephen Lee.

Ebdon, who won the tournament in 2009, will battle it out with 2008 champion Maguire in a best-of-19 frames contest.

China's Ding would have been a popular finalist in Beijing but, after dominating the early exchanges, he was outplayed by 2002 world champion Ebdon, with the match hinging on a nail-biting seventh frame.

After levelling the scores at 3-3, Ebdon took the lead when, with just three colours remaining, Ding missed a straightforward blue to the middle while trying to force position on the pink.

Ebdon potted the blue and then brilliantly cut the pink in from a narrow angle, while still managing to get position on the black at the end of a 37-minute frame.

A break of 68 was enough for Ebdon to take the eighth, before he sealed victory with runs of 64 and 58 to take the decisive ninth frame 127-0.

Maguire could have been jaded after his dramatic 5-4 win over Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals, a victory achieved following a re-spotted black.

But he started strongly, moving into a 2-0 lead against Lee, only to be pegged back to 2-2 at the interval, before responding to take the next four, clinching his place in the last two with a break of 91.

It is the second time he has reached the final of the Beijing tournament and his progress rarely looked in doubt after an opening-frame break of 76. He then edged a scrappy second.

Lee looked to have built some momentum as he levelled the match at 2-2 but Maguire responded with breaks of 53, 51 and 66 to win the next two.

A 48 from Lee in frame seven offered hope of a reply but he faltered and Maguire cleared to lead 5-2. Boosted by that effort, the Scot recorded his highest break of the match to book his place in the final.