Maguire in Friday Fight Back

Stephen Maguire refused to accept defeat as he clawed his way back to take Friday evening's final three frames against Ali Carter.

Maguire Makes China Open Final

Stephen Maguire reached the final of the China Open with a comfortable 6-2 victory over England's Stephen Lee.

The Scot moved into a 2-0 lead before Lee hit back to level the scores at the interval.

But 2008 winner Maguire responded to take the next four frames, clinching his place in Sunday's final with a break of 91 in the last frame.

He will face either home favourite Ding Junhui or Peter Ebdon, who meet at 1430 BST on Saturday.

Maguire enjoyed a much more straightforward passage than in the quarter-finals, where he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-4 on a re-spotted black.

It is the second time he has reached the final of the Beijing tournament and his progress rarely looked in doubt.

He began confidently, a break of 76 enough to take the first frame before edging a scrappy second.

Lee looked to have the momentum as he levelled the match at 2-2 but Maguire responded with breaks of 53, 51 and 66 to win the next two.

A 48 from Lee in frame seven offered hope of a reply but he faltered and Maguire cleared to lead 5-2, before his highest break of the match earned his place in the final.

Previous China Open winners

2011 - Judd Trump

2010 - Mark Williams

2009 - Peter Ebdon

2008 - Stephen Maguire

2007 - Graeme Dott

2006 - Mark Williams

2005 - Ding Junhui

Ronnie Makes Maguire Jump

Ronnie O'Sullivan captured his first ranking title since September 2009 after beating Stephen Maguire 9-7 in an absorbing German Masters final.

O'Sullivan hit 111 to win the opening frame but scored only 13 points in the next three as Maguire's 130, 106 and 128 gave him a 3-1 interval lead.

The last four afternoon frames were shared to give the Scotsman a 5-3 lead.

O'Sullivan, who was within one ball of defeat in the first round, moved 8-6 ahead and duly completed a fine win.

The 36-year-old, who has been playing despite suffering from glandular fever symptoms, had slipped to 16th in the world rankings at the start of the tournament and was in danger of falling outside of the elite group for the first time since he was a teenager.

Had he done so he would not have been granted an automatic place at the World Championship, an event he has won on three occasions, and would have faced a gruelling series of qualifying matches.

He seemed set to lose the final after Maguire extended his lead by winning the first frame after the interval following breaks of 46 and 69.

Maguire was also well placed in the next, but after compiling a 40 he later attempted a difficult red into the centre which allowed O'Sullivan back in, The Rocket took advantage and rattled in a clearance of 89.

O'Sullivan levelled after a fluctuating 12th frame and a break of 67 put him ahead for the first time since the opening frame.

After falling two frames behind, Maguire knocked in a clearance of 82 to keep the match alive but O'Sullivan responded with a 46 in the next, but after fluking a red to leave his opponent needing snookers, went in-off following an escape.

However, Maguire missed with an attempt at a difficult long blue, leaving a grateful O'Sullivan the chance to pot the winning balls.

"I'm coming to the end of my career so every victory now is nice," O'Sullivan said after collecting the trophy. "If I can nick a tournament here or there it's great - it would be nice to go out at the top.

"This is the best venue we play in on the tour. It used to be Wembley Conference Centre... but it's brilliant to play here and get to the final.

"All credit to Stephen, because he's had a great tournament.

"He's played really well and is playing as well now as when he first came on the scene and I tipped him to be the dominant player of the decade.

"He outplayed me today, I hung in there and nicked frames."

Maguire, whose last title remains the 2008 China Open, said: "I should have made it 7-5 but I played a bad positional shot and when it went 6-6 he had the rhythm - I think that was the turning point in the match.

"I've beaten some good players this week and if I'm honest I probably wasn't expecting to get to the final - but I can't look at it that way now... I just want to jump off a bridge."