Walden closes on first snooker world final

England’s Ricky Walden moved to within five frames of his first World Championship final after stretching his lead over Barry Hawkins to 12-8 in their semi-final on Saturday.

Leading 9-7 from the previous session, Walden won a scrappy opening frame and then made it 11-7 after Hawkins saw a break of 62 came to an end when the cue ball took an unfortunate bounce off a side cushion and forced him to play safe.

A break of 114 from Hawkins allowed him to reduce the deficit, but Walden claimed the final frame of the session with a break of 78 to take another step towards the final at the Crucible in the northern English city of Sheffield.

Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was due to resume his semi-final with Judd Trump later on Saturday.

The four-time world champion led 14-10 after Friday’s evening session, but he was reprimanded by referee Michaela Tabb after reacting to a poor shot in the day’s penultimate frame with what appeared to be a lewd gesture.

O’Sullivan, who has returned to the sport after a year-long absence, said he had not intended to cause offence and was merely cleaning his cue.