Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed his 22nd ranking title with a 10-5 triumph over Liang Wenbo in the Shanghai Masters final.
Liang swept aside in final of Shanghai Masters
World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed his 22nd ranking title with a 10-5 success over Liang Wenbo in the Shanghai Masters final.
Resuming with a 6-3 lead at the start of the evening session, O'Sullivan rolled in breaks of 109, 56, 69 and 71 to seal victory with four frames to spare in the best-of-19 contest.
Home favourite Liang had briefly rallied, winning two of the first three frames - either side of O'Sullivan's century - to cut his deficit to 7-5.
But O'Sullivan finished off in style with three consecutive half-centuries to take home the silverware from the first world ranking event of the season.
Consistent
The Englishman had earlier taken control in the first session, opening a 6-3 advantage courtesy of an impressive display of break building.
A run of 70 in the opening frame helped the Essex potter race into a 3-0 lead.
Liang won a tactical fourth to get on the board and, after the duo traded breaks of 80 and 81 to share the next two, O'Sullivan stepped up with contributions of 75 and 91 to move 6-2 ahead.
And although Liang took the final frame of the afternoon with a break of 89, O'Sullivan needed just six frames in the evening to close out the title.
The 33-year-old from Chigwell's triumph ended a spell of 13 months without a ranking title as he moved a step closer to Steve Davis' total of 28, although he remains 14 short of Stephen Hendry's record haul.
"I'm very happy to have won the tournament and got my season off to a good start," said O'Sullivan, who has now won three tournaments in China.
"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.
Grind
"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."
O'Sullivan paid tribute to his opponent, adding: "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.
"It's very satisfying to get a victory, especially here in China where snooker is so popular. It's a good feeling."
