Ding Junhui is looking forward to testing himself against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semi-finals of the Dafabet Masters.

The Chinese star, who won the Masters eight years ago, booked his place in the last four with a 6-5 win over Luca Brecel.

“I believe in myself to do well in deciders,” said Ding after his win over the Belgian, as reported by the World Snooker website.

“I’ve won most of them in the last couple of seasons.

“In a decider, it’s about who wants to win it, and I believed that I could win the game. Luca had a brilliant chance to win it, but he missed the red in the middle pocket which was unbelievable.”

Ding is 3.60 to win on Saturday and 9.50 to win 6-5, while O’Sullivan is 1.85 with a -2.5 frame handicap.

Ding hasn’t come up against ‘The Rocket’ since March, where he went down 6-3 in the Player Tour Championship, and he is delighted to have another chance to take on O’Sullivan in a Triple Crown event – with their last major meeting coming in the World Championship in 2017.

He added: “I’ve finally got a chance to play Ronnie. I had a chance to play him in the UK Championship and in the Shanghai Masters [this season] but each time I lost the game before I met him. This time in the Masters, a big tournament, I’m looking forward to playing him.”

Ding is 8.50 to win the Dafabet Masters outright and O’Sullivan is the 1.80 favourite.