Ronnie O’Sullivan booked his spot in the final of the World Grand Prix but apologised for an “embarrassing” performance as he overcame Stuart Bingham in an error-strewn encounter.

Both players were below-par at the Coventry Building Society Arena but O’Sullivan did enough to record a 6-2 victory which moves him into his first ranking showpiece of the season, with Neil Robertson lying in wait.

O’Sullivan said afterwards on ITV4: “We both stunk it out. We were both really, really poor, we looked like a couple of old club players, that’s what it felt like. Really embarrassing but there you go, sorry about that.

Ronnie O’Sullivan, right, acknowledged he and Stuart Bingham were below-par (Steve Paston/PA)
Ronnie O’Sullivan, right, acknowledged he and Stuart Bingham were below-par (Steve Paston/PA)

“I felt for Stuart, you could see he was struggling and honestly we looked like a couple of butchers out there, just butchering everything all over the gaff.”

Bingham took a scrappy opener but missed a simple red which would have put him on the verge of a 2-0 lead and O’Sullivan capitalised with a break of 62 to level proceedings.

Further mistakes from Bingham saw O’Sullivan hit the front as knocks of 51, 56 and 77 helped to establish a 5-1 lead before his opponent closed the gap with a 78 – the highest break of the evening.

Despite a break of 60 in frame eight from O’Sullivan, Bingham looked set to reduce arrears even further when his rival blundered but then missed the final black off its spot.

O’Sullivan, a winner of the event three years ago, swooped in to tidy up and collect the win but he knows he must improve ahead of his best-of-19 showdown against Robertson on Sunday.

The six-time world champion added: “If I don’t get my finger out or find something, I’ll probably get blasted away. I’d be happy to get a couple of frames playing like that.

“You never know, I could stink the gaff out, drag him down to my level and he could go. I doubt it, he’s a bit too good for that, he’s in his prime. He’s cuing really well, best cueist I’ve ever seen.”

Bingham, the 2016 finalist, lamented his performance, saying: “I’m just gutted. He had a bit of luck here and there, few little flukes and the rub of the green but I had more opportunities and I just couldn’t take them.”