match, but O'Sullivan won six straight frames to take a 9–7 lead after the second. O'Sullivan won the match 13–10, making a further two century breaks in the final session. Semi-finals The semi-finals were played as the best of 33 frames held over four sessions on 4 and 5 May. Carter met Maguire, and led 5–3 after the first session. Maguire made a 142 break in frame 15, but still trailed after the second session by four frames. The pair shared the eight frames of the third session, with Carter leading 14–10. Carter then won three of the next five to win the match 17–12. Earlier in the season, Carter had considered retiring from the game, due to struggles with Crohn's disease. Hendry, acting as a pundit for BBC Sport, commented how Carter had "frustrated" Maguire during the match. O'Sullivan met Stevens in the other semi-final. This was O'Sullivan's ninth world championship semi-final, and Steven's fifth. O'Sullivan led the match 5–3 after the opening session, but won six of the eight in the second to lead 11–5. The pair shared the eight frames of the third session, leaving O'Sullivan 15–9 ahead. Stevens took the first frame in the fourth session, before O'Sullivan made a break of 130 in frame 26, and won the next frame to complete a 17–10 victory. Snooker pundit John Parrott likened playing O'Sullivan to be as difficult as "hold[ing] a tiger by the tail". Final The final was played on 6 and 7 May as the best of 35 frames held over four sessions between Carter and O'Sullivan. This was the second time that the pair had met in the final of the event, with O'Sullivan defeating Carter 18–8 in the 2008 final. This was O'Sullivan's fourth world championship final, having won the prior three, whilst Carter was featuring in his second. Carter had never beaten O'Sullivan in 11 previous attempts in ranking events before this match. O'Sullivan made two century breaks in the opening session, including a 141 break in the eighth frame, the highest in a world championship final to date. The previous record was 139 made by O'Sullivan in the 2001 final. The pair were tied at 3–3, but O'Sullivan won the final two frames of the session to lead 5–3. O'Sullivan won four of the next six to lead 9–5, and led 10–7 overnight. A break of 101 by O'Sullivan saw him