Congratulations to Ronnie O’Sullivan who has today taken his 22nd ranking event title with a comfortable 10-5 victory over local favourite Liang Wenbo in Shanghai…
Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-5 Liang Wenbo
70(70)-2, 66(46)-59(49), 78(46)-53(36), 27-67(41), 87(80)-0, 0-81(81), 75(75)-7, 99(91)-34, 0-89(89)
9-63(35), 109(109)-0, 51(36)-62(48), 85(56)-26, 77(69)-43, 71(71)-0
Resuming at 6-3 down, it was crucial for Liang to get off to a good start this afternoon and by taking the opening frame of the session to pull one back, this is exactly what he did. As would be the case throughout the afternoon however, though he was playing well and staying in touch, he could not quite string a run of frames together and Ronnie soon restored his three frame cushion with an excellent 109, the first ton of the match.
Frame twelve proved to be the most entertaining of the session as following mistakes from both players it could have gone either way. Liang put himself in a strong position initially with a break of 48 before a missed black off the spot left O’Sullivan in with a great chance to steal it. A kick on the penultimate colour however left a tricky last red and his attempt to cut it back into the left-centre failed giving Liang his second chance to cut the deficit to just two frames once again. Although he missed a green to leave Ronnie in again, there was to be a final twist as the world number one missed the pink to take the frame. He did not leave it easy for Liang but following a couple of excellent shots on pink and black, the frame was finally secured and he looked to have kept himself right in the match.
Little did we know it at the time however but that would be Liang’s final frame of the match as Ronnie took the frame before the interval to lead 8-5 following a miscue from Liang, before adding the final two when they resumed to get over the line.
So for the second season in a row the season-opening tournament goes to the world number 1 who despite not playing at his very best, has undoubtedly been the best player here this week and has had to defeat a series of top class opponents to take the title. Having taken his 22nd ranking title, he now lies just six behind Steve Davis who has 28, while Stephen Hendry will still take some catching on 36.
As far as the rankings are concerned, this victory now moves him closer to provisional number one John Higgins, though there is still quite a gap with five events still to be played. He can do no more than win titles however and it will be interesting to see how the fight for number one pans out come May.
Turning to Liang Wenbo, while he will be disappointed to lose it is clear to see that this week has been a tremendous success for him having reached his first career ranking event final. Still just 22 years of age, he has a long time ahead of him to improve even further and experiences like this will only help him in the future. As well as that of course, he has added another 5,600 ranking points to his toal and now lies inside the provisional top 16 for the first, but surely not the last time.
Roll on the Grand Prix!