Record seventh Masters crown for Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ronnie O’Sullivan completed a 10-7 win against Joe Perry in the Dafabet Masters final to become the first player to take the title seven times.
The Rocket had previous shared the record of six with Stephen Hendry but now stands alone with one more crown.
He had to fight back from 4-1 in arrears to win nine of the last 12 frames at Alexandra Palace.
O’Sullivan received a cheque for £200,000 and lifted the Paul Hunter Trophy which was named after Hunter for the first time, in memory of the threetime Masters winner who died in 2006.
O’Sullivan, at present world No. 13, won his first piece of silverware since the Welsh Open last February, having lost in the final of the European Masters, Champion of Champions and UK Championship this season.
At the age of 41, O’Sullivan remains a formidable force, particularly in London, where most of the 2,000-strong crowd get behind him. This was his 12th Masters final in all and ninth since 2004.
It was also a landmark week for Perry as he reached the final of a Triple Crown event for the first time, albeit one which finished in disappointment as he failed to capitalise on his early dominance. The 42-year-old from Chatteris receives £90,000, his second biggest career pay day after the £100,000 he banked for winning the 2015 Players Championship.
It was 4-4 at the end of the first session then O’Sullivan won a scrappy opening frame in the final session to go ahead for the first time. That gave him a momentum boost and he sailed through the next three frames to lead 8-4.
Perry, who had lost seven frames in a row, came back strongly after the interval and fired runs of 117 and 92 to close to 8-6. But after missing the last red in the 17th frame, it was O’Sullivan who punished to go and clinch victory.
“That’s probably the best win I’ve had in my life,” said O’Sullivan. “Given the circumstances with my cue tip (which he had to change during his match with Fu). Yesterday it played fantastic, today I couldn’t do much with it. I just managed to hold it together under the most extreme pressure. I couldn’t play three quarters of the shots that I wanted to. I just had to hang in there and I’m proud I was able to do that.
“Joe’s a fantastic player. You don’t get to the final of the Masters without being a really top quality player. Even if everything had gone well for me, I’d still have had a massive match on my hands.
“Paul Hunter was a legend of the game. A beautiful guy, loved by all the players. I always say if he is looking down on us, we love you very much. You’re not forgotten. It’s great that this tournament is named after Paul. I’m just so happy to have put my name on that trophy.”
Perry said: “I’m a little bit dis- appointed. I enjoyed every minute of it. I got Ronnie on the day you want to get him on. He wasn’t in full flow today, but it just goes to show the way his mind is now, and his all round game is good.