Ronnie O’Sullivan will face Ali Carter when he attempts to claim a record-extending eighth Masters title on Sunday at Alexandra Palace.

O’Sullivan beat 2015 champion Shaun Murphy 6-2 to reach the final of the prestigious tournament for a 14th time.

In Saturday’s other semi-final, Carter compiled three successive century breaks as he defeated Mark Allen 6-3.

Carter also advanced to the showpiece match on his last appearance at the invitational event in 2020.

His meeting with 40-time ranking event winner O’Sullivan will be a repeat of their 2008 and 2012 world finals, which were both won by ‘The Rocket’.

However, a more recent encounter at the Crucible, won by Carter, featured the players clashing in a bitter exchange. – in which O’Sullivan barged into his opponent’s shoulder.

O’Sullivan took three of the first four frames against Murphy, who made a superb 131 break to gain a foothold in the match.

While another Murphy century brought him within a frame, O’Sullivan, 48, then went through the gears with runs of 90, 71 and 62 to seal his victory and set his sights on the £250,000 top prize after a five-year absence from the showpiece match.

“At the start there were a few mistakes but I cleaned it up a little bit – and I need to do that these days, because I can’t pot as well as these guys but I can make breaks among the balls and make up for it that way,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport.

“I don’t feel that old. I feel young in my mind. I feel a lot younger round the table when I play these younger players. They look old and their brains are quite slow. I still feel my brain is pretty quick round the snooker table, which is enough.

“They need to get their acts together because I am going blind, have got a dodgy arm and bad knees and they still can’t beat me.”

Already the tournament’s youngest winner almost 29 years ago, O’Sullivan could now become its oldest too, eclipsing Stuart Bingham, who won his only Masters title, aged 43, in 2020.