O'Sullivan, who threatened to quit snooker after reaching the quarter-finals, beat the shoeless Australian Quentin Hann 9-5.

The Australian, still playing in socks after breaking a bone in his foot after a parachute accident, spent much of a sparkling final session watching from the sidelines as O'Sullivan closed in on another major prize.

Hann made a break of 78 to regain the lead at 5-4 in a match where he had been 4-2 up on Wednesday, but O'Sullivan, who looked uncomfortable in the early stages of the match, suddenly found his form to gain control.

Bright talents

In a dazzling three-frame session O'Sullivan outscored Hann 279 points to nil with breaks of 90, 122 and 93.

Hann halted the flood of points with his own run of 41 but he missed an easy black and back came O'Sullivan with 93.

He added 59 in the 14th frame and his fourth final of the season is now within touching distance.

O'Sullivan dedicated his latest victory to his Nan, who was part of the packed arena enthralled by the clash of snooker's brightest talents.

"She's a fantastic lady and it's great that she can come down and watch my matches," said the world number three.

"She really enjoys the snooker though at one time she got too nervous to watch my matches and would rather sit in the garden.

Hann was full of praise for his opponent and his respect for his victor was obvious in his post-match comments.

"It will be a crime if Ronnie doesn't win this tournament. To me he is the best player in the world and has an ability to make someone look very ordinary," the Australian said.

"He's beaten me four times in a row now and that's not on, but I exceeded my expectations coming here.

"My goal was just to reach the second round. For the first time I actually felt dangerous playing under the television lights and started to feel confident."

Match scores R O'Sullivan (Eng) bt Q Hann (Aus) 9-5 Frame Scores (O'Sullivan 1st): 83-10 0-131 70-56 64-69 8-54 55-65 80-14 62-14 15-79 63-0 94-0 122 (122 break)-0 93-41 68-15