O’SULLIVAN’S GOT WORLD AT HIS FEET
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN tore up the record books once again as he completed a World Grand Prix hat-trick to land a record-extending 41st ranking title.
The Rocket fought back from 6-3 down to see off Ali Carter to win last week’s Masters 10-7, securing a 23rd major Triple Crown title.
And the world No.1 repeated the trick as he recovered from 4-0 and 6-3 behind to beat Judd Trump, 14 years his junior, 10-7 at Leicester’s Morningside Arena.
O’sullivan (above) has not lost since November and has won the last three events he has entered, adding the UK Championship, Masters and World Grand Prix to the Shanghai Masters crown he clinched this season.
O’sullivan trumped his rival (below) to the £100,000 top prize with a 14th straight win last night. And the 48-year-old, who has banked £810,000 solely from the four events he’s won this season, said: “I enjoyed that.
“I had to enjoy the battle. You have to battle against Judd because he’s a warrior. For me he’s the favourite for the World Championship this year.
“I don’t think age is really an issue. Experience is helping me. I’ve won a lot of tournaments, I know a lot about this game. I’m probably a better all-round player than I’ve ever been.
“I’ve got three months to try and get some consistency ahead of Sheffield. It would be nice to enjoy the World Championship for a change.”
The final did not live up to the breakbuilding heights you would expect from the game’s two most prolific centurymakers. But there were plenty of thrills and spills.
O’sullivan finished the first session just 5-3 behind despite an error-strewn display in which he made a paltry top break of just 63.
Trump, who had runs of 74, 69 and 61 in the afternoon, won the first frame of the evening with a 66 visit.
But O’sullivan turned it on with the trophy on the line as he so often has during his distinguished 32-year career.
He rattled off three frames on the spin, with breaks of 74 and 58, to level at 6-6. Winning the 13th frame saw the Chigwell ace hit the front for the first time and he never looked back.
World No.2 Trump, who won three ranking titles in a row in October, admitted that last night’s final was something of a disappointment.
“We both struggled. The standard wasn’t very good,” he said. “Ronnie cleaned up when he needed to. It’s never nice losing but I’m pleased to have played another final against Ronnie.”