Judd Trump roared to the top of the world rankings for the first time as he beat Peter Ebdon 9-1 to reach the International Championship final in Chengdu.
The 23-year-old Bristol cueman assured himself of the number one slot with a ruthless performance against an out-of-sorts Ebdon, who paid a high price for his frequent mistakes.
Former world champion Ebdon made the only century, a 106 break in the fourth frame, but that was a blip in the flow of the one-sided contest, and Trump goes on to face the winner of Saturday's second semi-final between Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson in Sunday's final.
With £125,000 going to the winner, plus a slew of ranking points, the new tournament has instantly become one of the most important on the World Snooker tour.
And while his stablemate Ronnie O'Sullivan missed the trip, citing illness, Trump, whose first major title came at the China Open in April 2011, is reaping the benefits.
