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Monday, 19 January 2009 |
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Ronnie O'Sullivan has won his fourth Masters title with a dramatic 10-8 win over defending champion Mark Selby in a thrilling final at the Wembley Arena.
O'Sullivan took an early lead to 3-1 but Selby hit back to draw level at the end of the opening session. It was Selby, last years winner and world number 4, who continued to apply the pressure to advance to 7-5, before O'Sullivan hit form winning three on the trot with breaks of 69, 70 and 110, to move ahead.
A scrappy sixteenth frame frame went to Selby before a tight battle for the next, which Selby looked odds on favourite to win leading 16-50 at one point, was pinched by Ronnie 'The Rocket' 51-50.
With the midnight hour approaching and the tension building, both players agreed to referee Jan Verhaas' suggestion of a re-rack in the early stages of what turned out to be the final frame. A second re-rack followed before Selby's long pot miss for a red in the 18th frame gave O'Sullivan the opportunity to wrap up victory and claim the title.
Ronnie O'Sullivan described winning the 2009 Masters with a new cue as his greatest achievement in snooker. O'Sullivan had smashed his old model in frustration during practice but, with a new cue hastily prepared by John Parris, he went all the way to the title at snooker's most prestigious invitation tournament.
"It's got to be my greatest achievement, to win it with a new cue," said the 33-year-old from Chigwell, "I wasn't seeing the potting angles as well as I was all week so I had to stay positive and hang in there. From 7-5 I was pleased with how I played."
Sunday's final result (best of 19 frames):
Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) 10-8 Mark Selby (Eng)
69-28 (68) 88-0 4-97 (82) 114-1 (101) 54-59 0-80 (76) 43-69 (50) 64-58 (53) 63-62 29-109 (101) 0-93 (89) 19-114 (114) 69-9 70-65 110-0 (110) 0-76 (69) 51-50 71-16 (55)
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Sunday, 18 January 2009 |
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World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan stormed into the British Masters final on Saturday with a 6-1 win over English compatriot Stephen Maguire.
O'Sullivan, a triple Masters winner, fired in a century in the opening frame and added further breaks of 84, 66, 136 and 70 and will now face defending champion Mark Selby in the final on Sunday.
"I only had an hour's practice, I'm still not fully comfortable with the cue but I'm determined and play with the attitude to win and just try to enjoy my game," said O'Sullivan.
Selby had cruised past Scotland's John Higgins 6-2 in his last-four clash.
"It means the world," Selby told the BBC. "I knew it was going to be a tough task but, in only my second time here to get back into the final, even if I lose I've achieved more than I expected.
"It's always harder to defend a title, I felt that coming here this year. I put a lot more pressure on myself than I normally do going into a tournament."
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Wednesday, 14 January 2009 |
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John Higgins luck was certainly in after his 6-4 win over Marco Fu, of Hong Kong, to reach the quarter-finals of the Masters at Wembley Arena yesterday. With a gold coin given to him by his wife, Denise, in his trouser pocket, the Scot fluked the final black along the top cushion into a corner pocket in the tenth frame to complete his recovery from 4-2 down
The match turned after Fu, on a run of 40 in the seventh frame and heading for a 5-2 lead, missed a short-range red. Higgins won it with a 59 clearance to renew his resolve.
Higgins, who became front-runner for the tournament’s £10,000 highest-break prize with a 140 total clearance in the second frame, now plays Ding Junhui, of China.
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