³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Shaun Murphy will face Robert Milkins in Sunday's Welsh Open final after defeating China's Pang Junxu 6-3 in Llandudno.

Murphy, 40, reached his first ranking final since the 2021 World Championship after a tight contest lasting three hours and 46 minutes.

Milkins beat China's Tian Pengfei 6-2 to stay on course for a £150,000 bonus.

Victory in the final will assure Milkins of top spot in the eight-match BetVictor Series ranking list.

Murphy, who made a 147 clearance in his fourth-round defeat of Daniel Wells in the last 16, won four of the last five frames in a tight contest with Pang.

A break of 83 sealed victory for the world number 11 who will be aiming to secure his first ranking title since he won the Welsh Open in Cardiff in 2020.

Milkins, 46, made breaks of 61, 109, 89 and 82 against Tian, who failed to reproduce the form that had seen the Chinese player beat Ali Carter, John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach his first ranking semi-final.

With an £80,000 top prize on offer for the Ray Reardon Trophy, winning the Welsh Open would take Milkins' earnings for the week to £230,0000.

The most the Gloucester player has previously earned in an entire season is £139,000.

Milkins, whose only ranking title victory was last season's Gibraltar Open, told World Snooker: "It's massive, the biggest game of my life. I don't know how I'm going to cope.

"It would be enough just playing for the title, let alone everything that goes with it. I don't know if I'll be able to stand up, but I might rise to the occasion."

If Milkins loses the final, Murphy will bank the £150,000.

Sign up to My Sport to follow snooker news on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ app.