Joe Perry and Jimmy Robertson to contest European Masters final

Joe Perry and Jimmy Robertson will contest the European Masters final after coming through a pair of excellent semi-finals on Saturday in Lommel. 

Perry was the first man through to the finale after a fighting back from an early deficit to defeat Anthony Hamilton 6-3. After winning the first, Hamilton continued his good start with a break of 70 in the second frame to move 2-0 up early on. Perry hit back with a very nice break of 72 in the third, before dominating the fourth as well and squaring the match at 2-2 going into the mid-session interval. 

Frame five could have been a potential turning point. Perry was in first and compiled a break of 64 to give him a big but not unassailable lead in the frame, as Hamilton then got in and cleared with a 67 to take the 3-2 advantage. As it happened, the turning point came in the next frame instead. Hamilton was in first and had built an early lead of 47, only for Perry to hit back with a 70 break and level once more at 3-3. From there, he then took the next two frames, before clinching the match quickly in the ninth with a match high break of 74 and give himself the opportunity to win his second ranking title on Sunday. 

Jimmy Robertson meanwhile has defeated Mark King 6-4 to the make his first ranking event final, despite having never been beyond a ranking quarter-final prior to this week. Any nerves he may have had in such a massive game for him did not surface early on, starting the match in style with a break of 99 to lead 1-0. He then dominated the second to double his lead, before King fought back. Breaks of 85 and 64 in the next two saw King level at 2-2 going into the mid-session interval, without Robertson scoring a point in frames three and four. 

King then edged 3-2 in front, only for Robertson to win a tight sixth frame on the colours to keep himself right in the hunt at 3-3. The next two frames from Robertson given the pressure were simply superb. He took his chance in the seventh with a break of 81 to move ahead against 4-3, before getting in first in the eighth. What followed was a sublime total clearance of 132 to put him within one of his first ever final. King was never going to lie down and roll over though and he responded just as emphatically by getting in first in the ninth and making a superb 97 to put the pressure back on Robertson. A couple of poor safety shots from King in the tenth though handed one too many chances for Robertson to get over the line and clinch his 6-4 win. 

Semi-Final results:

Joe Perry 6-3 Anthony Hamilton
Jimmy Robertson 6-4 Mark King

The Final: (Best-of-17 frames)

Joe Perry Vs Jimmy Robertson

What a week it has been for both Joe Perry and Jimmy Robertson. Perry has beaten Oliver Lines, survived deciders against Andrew Higginson and Tian Pengfei as well as beating Kyren Wilson and Anthony Hamilton to make it down to the final two in Lommel. For Robertson, there has been plenty of drama. His opening three games this week against Zhang Yong, Zhou Yuelong and Anthony McGill all went down to deciding frames and were won on the final black. He followed that up with victory over Mark Allen in what was just his second ranking quarter-final, before then beating Mark King, who had lost just three frames in his four matches prior to the semi-finals this week, in what was Robertson's first ever semi-final. 

Now the pair face off and there is plenty on the line. The winner will receive £75,000 while the loser takes home £35,000. Victory for Perry would move him back up to 16th in the world rankings, while Robertson would move up to 26th. There is also the potential for plenty of extra earnings as the winner will take a place in the Champion of Champions and while both players should qualify for next year's World Grand Prix, the winner would have a very good chance of progressing on to the Players Championship and maybe even the Tour Championship. Perry may have the experience, but having only won one ranking title at the 2015 Players Championship Grand Finals (over the best-of-7 frames) this is just as big of a day as it is for Robertson in his first ranking final. The pair have both played well to beat a couple of top players along the way, but fought hard and ridden their luck in final frames. After how Robertson came through his opening three matches you may think that it is written in the stars that he will go on and take the trophy home. 

What impressed me about Robertson is how he cope with his maiden semi-final yesterday. He started strongly with the opening break of 99 and then made two crucial breaks from 3-3 and whatever nerves there may have been did not really hamper him. Even though the pressure and subsequent nerves may be upped for the final, I still think he will handle it well. For Perry, you only have to go back to January 2017 to when he was a top 16 player and a finalist in the Masters to remember that he does belong on this stage and is more than good enough to re-take his top 16 ranking. It may be a nervy affair and if that is the case, Perry's added experience will be valuable. 

Prediction: Perry to win 9-6.