Ronnie O'Sullivan powered his way to a first Hong Kong Masters title, beating home favourite Marco Fu 6-4 in Sunday's final.
O'Sullivan finished runner-up when this event was last held in 2017, but having avenged defeat to Neil Robertson in that final by beating the Australian in a high-quality encounter on Saturday, The Rocket had too many guns for an opponent who has certainly played his part in a memorable tournament.
24 hours on from the magical, match-winning 147 maximum break he produced in his deciding-frame victory over John Higgins in their semi-final, Fu was unable to quite scale those heady heights as O'Sullivan raced out of the blocks and into a 3-1 lead that he nursed all the way to the winning line.
This 114 total clearance from Ronnie O'Sullivan to win the Hong Kong Masters is absolutely genius.
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) October 9, 2022
It featured 12 blues and 0 blacks until he brilliantly brings it into position at the very end. The 9000-strong crowd loved it almost like a 147pic.twitter.com/G6raHyjWck
O'Sullivan makes flying start
O'Sullivan dominated the early exchanges, reeling off 122 unanswered points in the opening frame and then adding breaks of 71 and 59 after Fu had won frame two with a run of 55.
The mid-session interval failed to change the course of the match as O'Sullivan registered his fourth century of the week in the seventh frame to move 5-2 in front, though Fu did rally to win the following frame in dramatic fashion.
O'Sullivan seemingly had one hand on the winner's trophy when staring down a pink into the yellow pocket, only to offer Fu a shock lifeline which he took in nerveless fashion, clearing the table with the aid of brilliant double on the final blue that left him inch-perfect on the pink stationed in the baulk end.
When Fu followed up with a break of 56 to win frame nine, the match was threatening to turn on its axis, only for O'Sullivan to quickly thwart any hopes of a successful comeback – and in some style.
Fu comeback denied by Ronnie genius
In fact, O'Sullivan had saved the best for last and finished the job with a flourish, current world champion putting together a stunning clearance of 114 that was made all the more impressive by the fact the black was tied up right up until O'Sullivan developed it when potting the final brown.
🚀🏆 Ronnie O'Sullivan thrills a world record snooker crowd of 9,000 to win the Hong Kong Masters title - even though it meant beating home favourite Marco Fu!pic.twitter.com/7MFONoeprw
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) October 9, 2022
A warm applause from Fu displayed his appreciation for O'Sullivan's sparkling finish, but Fu's own resurgence this week has been another of the great stories to come from a tournament that has finally ignited a season that has been so badly lacking the buzz and quality of snooker on display over the past four days.
O’Sullivan said afterwards: "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.
"To play Marco in front of the Hong Kong fans is like a dream. 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."
