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No Shanghai surprise for O'Sullivan as he beats Liang
World No 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan eased to a 22nd ranking title victory after a 10-5 victory over Liang Wenbo in the final of the Shanghai Masters.
O'Sullivan took a 3-1 lead into the interval of the first session before returning to move 6-3 ahead.
When the players returned for the evening session Liang – who lives in Sheffield during the nooker season, based at the English Institute of Sport – briefly gave himself a glimmer of hope by matching O'Sullivan with two frames apiece to make it 8-5 before the Englishman closed out victory in just under four and a half hours.
"I'm very happy to have won the tournament and got my season off to a good start," said O'Sullivan.
"It was a tough match, I struggled with my technique and I wasn't hitting the ball sweetly. In spells I played okay but for most of it I had to battle to get through.
"I would have loved to entertain and play open snooker as that was the kind of game I was expecting but it got slow and there were some drawn out frames so it was hard to build any momentum.
"I was hanging on, trying to stay in there and not give anything away, and wait for some form to come along.
"I was only able to play flamboyant snooker in two or three frames. The rest of it was steady, hard, match snooker and I needed patience."
The world No 1 paid tribute to his opponent for giving him a tough examination.
"You think you've got him in trouble and you'll get back to the table and then he's pots a difficult ball – and he pots so many of them – and you have to stay in your seat, so you can get frustrated," he added. "It's very satisfying to get a victory, especially here in China where snooker is so popular. It's a good feeling."
O'Sullivan had to rely on all his experience and tactical ability to claim his third title in China and the 55,000 first prize.
The 33-year-old from Chigwell ended a spell of 13 months without a ranking title as he moved a step closer to Steve Davis's total of 28, although he remains 14 short of Stephen Hendry's record haul.
Liang, trailing 6-3 going into the evening session, won the first frame after the resumption with breaks of 28 and 35 only for O'Sullivan to restore his three-frame cushion with a superb 109.
However, the world No 1 saw a final pink bounce out of the jaws of the middle pocket in the next and Liang finished off to make it 7-5.
O'Sullivan won the 13th frame with a break of 56, followed up with a 69 in the next and five minutes later secured victory with a 71.
Liang had booked his place in the final following a scrappy semi-final encounter with former Rotherham potter Shaun Murphy.
The 22-year-old China star, who lives in Sheffield during the snooker season, took the match 6-5 although his cause was helped by a below-par display from Murphy, who had cruised into the last four having lost just one frame all week.
Liang had opened a 2-0 advantage after a 102 break in the second frame, but that was as good as the scoring would get.
Murphy pulled the scores level at 2-2 before an error-riddled fifth frame was finally clinched by Liang. The pair then traded frames before Murphy took the match to a decider following another scrappy 10th frame.
"It's a disappointing end to a good tournament," Murphy said.
"It's the most successful Shanghai Masters I've had. I came into the match full of confidence but I played about 60 per cent, whereas earlier in the week I was about 90 per cent.
"He beat me today but if I had played better and not missed the easy balls then I would have won. It was my fault I lost. He's very entertaining and fun to watch, but this is about winning, not entertaining."
Liang admitted he rode his luck during the match and was indebted to an unusually subdued Murphy display.
"Murphy played okay but missed a key ball in the last frame," he said.
"It was a tough match. During the break my coach encouraged me, calmed me down and helped me re-focus."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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