O’Sullivan wins fifth Masters title

Ronnie O’Sullivan won his fifth Masters title with a 10-4 win over defending champion Mark Selby in the final at London’s Alexandra Palace.

World champion O’Sullivan all but put the result against his fellow Englishman beyond doubt by storming into a 7-1 lead at the end of the first session in the best of 19 frames contest.

‘The Rocket’, cheered on by some raucous fans in what is effectively a ‘home’ tournament given he hails from Chigwell, just east of London, then won the opening frame of the evening session.

Selby, from Leicester in the English Midlands, did claim three frames in all during that second session to give the scoreline a touch more respectability. But there was a sense he was delaying the inevitable and the 38-year-old O’Sullivan duly won his first Masters title since defeating Selby in the 2009 final.

“Mark loves coming from behind, you never feel you’re at the winning line,” O’Sullivan told the BBC after collecting a winner’s cheque of $328,400.

Just a year ago O’Sullivan, one of the most talented players snooker has known but with a sometimes volatile temperament, did not play in the Masters but attended as a spectator amid suggestions he was on the verge of quitting the game completely.

“I enjoyed watching better last year because this is hard work!,” O’Sullivan joked. “I hadn’t been to any tournaments and was enjoying not playing but came down and I knew I missed it. I didn’t miss the stress but I missed the lads and being on tour.”