Mark Selby ended Ronnie O'Sullivan's hopes of back-to-back TV ranking titles with a 6-2 victory on Saturday evening to reach the Welsh Open final.

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The Jester prevailed from a tricky tie against the three-time world champion in a match that failed to live up to its pre-match hype but will feel he has a great chance of picking up his fourth title of the season tomorrow.

Selby, who beat O'Sullivan to win this title in 2008, won four consecutive frames to knock out the tournament favourite and goes through to face Ding Junhui in the showpiece final on Sunday.

The duo traded the first four frames and went into the mid-session interval at 2-2, but it was the Leicester ace who dominated the match after the restart, winning four gritty frames to run out a 6-2 winner.

To the surprise of many, no century breaks were made in the match and O'Sullivan struggled to reproduce the form that has seen him win his last eight ranking matches.

A number of poor safety shots, along with routine missed pots handed Selby chances which he rarely let slip and proved why he is world number one.

Chigwell ace O'Sullivan seemed to struggle for consistency and was left frustrated by Selby's slow methodical playing style but remains in the world's top 16 and is sure to feature at the Crucible in April.

The final will be played over two sessions tomorrow at 1pm and 7pm GMT over the best of 17 frames at the Newport centre, with either Ding Junhui or Mark Selby lifting the title and taking home a cheque for £30,000.