A year ago it was Shaun Murphy who ended the reign of Ronnie O’Sullivan as Premier League champion but tonight in Hopton the natural order was to be restored as O’Sullivan recorded a comprehensive 7-1 victory to win the title for a record ninth time.
In the process, he also became the first man to win a single professional title on nine separate occasions, surpassing Steve Davis’ previous record of eight.
Having played so well yesterday, for whatever reason it just did not quite happen for Shaun tonight and as he said in his post-match interview, a missed pink from him in the very first frame almost seemed to set the tone for him as he struggled throughout thereafter.
O’Sullivan though played well and finishing the campaign unbeaten, was a deserved winner yet again under the shot clock. He does seem to be in a good place at the moment which I would suggest is fairly ominous with the UK Championship just around the corner. Even the long pots are going in!
For Shaun though, despite tonight’s performance, he did put up a strong defence of his title and will hope to be invited back next year so he can attempt to get the trophy back.
How many league titles will O’Sullivan have by the time he retires though?