Ding gave himself the chance to claim his fourth ranking title of the season,by coming through a hard fought semi final clash with Ryan Day.
This was a strange match that limped to 3-3 with neither player showing their top form before what looked like a pivotal seventh frame went to Ding on the black to make it 4-3.That certainly appeared to be the decisive moment as Ding suddenly found his form to go 5-3 with a break of 121.
Day though wasn't quite finished yet and won the ninth with a century of his own (109) and also took his chance in the next to force the decider at 5-5.This match was now anybodies but Ding showed once again the fine player under pressure that he has now become to hold his nerve and he sealed the win with a beautifully constructed 79.
Trump on the other hand had a much easier path to the final as despite losing the opening frame to Rod Lawler he eased through the gears to win the match 6-1 with the help of breaks like 127,122 &117.
So to todays match then and what has the potential to be a real classic.Leave aside Ronnie's masterclass in the Masters and Ding has been the man of the season,showing time and time again that he now has the temperament to handle the big matches and the patience to dig in even if things are going against him.
Judd on the other hand has had a nightmare season by his standard,but the signs have been there in recent time that a return to form was close at hand and he has reached this final only losing four frames here all week.he will no doubt relish the unique atmosphere generated by the capacity Tempodrom crowd.
This one really is impossible to call with the full seventeen frames a distinct possibility.That said though my slight leaning is towards Trump,purely based on how he seemingly improved with each match this week,but I wouldn't be putting my house on it!
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