O'Sullivan to rest ahead of Crucible after Welsh Open win

O’Sullivan stormed back from a 5-2 deficit to beat Neil Robertson 9-5, wrapping up victory in style with a total clearance of 141.

In typical fashion the 40-year-old said he planned to celebrate his win by taking a break from the sport until the World Championships in Sheffield in April.

O’Sullivan said: “I feel shattered – I need a month of just relaxing to recharge the batteries and try to give Sheffield a good push because that’s the one everyone wants.

“My cue will just be chilling out for a few months.”

O’Sullivan had courted controversy in his first-round match against Barry Pinches on Monday when he refused a chance at a 147 maximum break.

But he built his momentum throughout the tournament and produced a superb display to claw back Robertson’s early advantage.

O’Sullivan capitalised on a number of early mistakes by the Australian to fire a string of half-century breaks that left him well in control.

But despite all the evidence to the contrary, O’Sullivan – who also won the Masters title in London last month – insisted Robertson remains the man to beat.

O’Sullivan added: “Neil has been the best player all season, his game’s really improved so much.

“He played probably at 75 or 80 per cent (yesterday) and he’s definitely the best player in the world at the moment.

“I’m just pleased to have been able to compete with him.

“Neil had his chances but I’m just glad I managed to keep hanging in there.”

O’Sullivan had beaten Joe Perry 6-3 in the semi-finals.

Perry had chances in the opening frame, but when he missed the penultimate red O’Sullivan stepped in with a 41 clearance to snatch it.

The players then had to take an unscheduled interval due to a technical problem backstage that prevented television broadcast of the early stages.

Once the cameras were rolling, Perry warmed up with an excellent 139 clearance to level.

O’Sullivan regained the lead with a 124 before Perry squared with a run of 92. But he could do little against a barrage of high scoring after the interval as O’Sullivan fired in 101, 94 and 88 breaks to go 5-2 ahead.

Perry capitalised to pull one back, but O’Sullivan cracked in a long red and cleared with 78 to book his place in the final.

Robertson had earlier beaten Mark Allen 6-4. The match turned on an incident in the third frame when Allen accidentally fouled when set to go 3-0 up.