Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the final of the Masters today by defeating Mark Williams at Wembley but says he is suffering from a lack of confidence and is "petrified" of playing.
"I don't know how I won that. The way it started I expected to lose quite comfortably today," he told the BBC of his 6-5 victory. "The things I had to go through, I was willing the balls in and I didn't know what I was doing from one shot to the next. I was wanting to make a game of it.
"Every now and again I play a few decent shots but the rest of the time it's grit and determination. I'm trying to find a bit of inspiration again. I've always been like that – but every ball I feel like I'm going to miss it."
He has been criticised for appearing not to enjoy playing snooker – an observation he seems to agree with. "The reason I don't like smiling is because I'm not confident," he said. "I don't expect to play well these days. I'm petrified going out there to play every time. It's going to be really hard for me in the final."
O'Sullivan will face Scotland's Stephen Maguire or England's Mark Selby in the final but that match seemed a long way off after Williams opened an initial two-frame lead in the semi-final.
However, the crowd favourite opened his account with a break of 86 after Williams missed a red while attempting a cut, potting the black in the process. The break got O'Sullivan into his stride and he levelled the match with a break of 99, which would have been a century had he not missed a straight yellow as an over-enthusiastic fan called out.
O'Sullivan took the lead by winning the fifth frame 63-10 but Williams responded with an impressive 132 to level the scores before losing the next frame. Williams then tied the scores at 4-4 and subsequently moved to within a frame of victory with a break of 96. However, a cool 67 enabled O'Sullivan to level the score and take the contest to a deciding frame.
O'Sullivan twice seemed to have handed the initiative to his opponent, firstly when he inadvertently fouled by potting two reds after sinking the blue, then when he left the Welshman a three-quarter length red.
However, Williams wasted the second opening and O'Sullivan held his nerve to establish a 25-point lead with only the blue, the pink and the black remaining – pumping his fist in delight as he neared the finishing line. Williams did not concede, but soon after that the contest was over, leaving O'Sullivan delighted.
