Ronnie O’Sullivan held off a spirited problem from dwelling favorite Marco Fu to win the Hong Kong Masters in entrance of a document crowd.
The seven-time world champion eased right into a 5-2 lead with breaks of 52, 71, 59 and 105 and compiled one other half-century within the eighth body earlier than Fu cleared the colors to maintain the match alive.
In entrance of 9,000 followers on the Hong Kong Coliseum, beating Saturday’s document of seven,500 for the semi-finals, Fu additionally gained the ninth body with a break of 56 earlier than O’Sullivan sealed victory in beautiful trend.
The 46-year-old compiled a complete clearance of 114 regardless of the pink and black being out of fee till the final two reds, leaving Fu to match his opponent to Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods throughout the presentation ceremony.
O’Sullivan, who earnt £100,000 for his first title of the season, stated: “It feels fantastic. First of all I just want to say this is probably the best tournament I’ve ever played in.
“We’ve never played in front of more than maybe 3,000 fans. To have 9,000 fans watching a snooker match (is) unheard of so hopefully we can come back year on year because the fans have been fantastic.”
Fu had underlined a outstanding resurgence by compiling a most 147 break within the deciding body of his semi-final towards John Higgins on Saturday.
A 3-time rating event winner and former World Championship semi-finalist, the 44-year-old underwent eye surgical procedure in 2017 then spent virtually two years off the tour because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“To play Marco in front of the Hong Kong fans is like a dream,” O’Sullivan added. “It’s like playing James Wattana in Thailand.
“Marco is the number one Hong Kong player ever and I’m so happy to see Marco back. He was off the tour for a couple of years, his health is good and you can just see class is always there.
“It’s great to see him back and playing fantastic snooker and I’m sure he will be winning some tournaments soon because he’s too good a player not to.”
Source: www.impartial.co.uk