O'Sullivan reins in his brilliance for second title

SNOOKER: Ronnie O'Sullivan, burning less rocket fuel than he has recently, left Graeme Dott sitting most uncomfortably yesterday as he won his second World Championship, 18-8.

O'Sullivan won yesterday's opening session 7-1, which meant he had won 16 of the previous 19 frames, and went into last night's final session needing just two of the eight frames to become only the fourth player to win more than one championship at this venue.

That evening session lasted 20 minutes and was preceded by the arrival of a streaker, who at one stage attempted to crawl under the table; it was the first streak in the history of these finals and the only unpredictable thing that happened all day.

It did not put O'Sullivan off his game. He went 17-8 up with a break of 92. And he moved into a 33-0 lead in the next before breaking down. Another break of 33 took him to the verge of the championship before he missed a pink.

But his triumph was not long delayed. Dott could make only 16, and when O'Sullivan returned he scored 22. He then missed a red, but Dott immediately conceded.

"When I was 5-0 down I thought I might lose 18-0," O'Sullivan said. "This one's for my dad."

Asked whether he had learned much, Dott replied: "Yes, I've learned that Ronnie is phenomenal. Apart from his potting his safety play was fantastic."

The balance of the contest appeared unchanged from the day before, which concluded with O'Sullivan winning the final three frames of the evening session. But the snooker which illuminated the stage with his destruction of Stephen Hendry in the semi-finals was largely missing.

This was O'Sullivan at his most controlled and acquisitive. When he got in he was fluent and usually decisive. Sometimes brilliant and occasionally forlorn, yesterday he looked just an ordinary great player, a genius in repose.

Dott, meanwhile, looked exhausted after his efforts of the previous 17 days. He did not play abjectly, but he was unable to raise himself to the heights of the previous day, when he stunned O'Sullivan by winning the first five frames. hen he did get in he looked like a furtive, frightened trespasser on O'Sullivan's small and private lawn; and the maestro soon shooed him away before he trampled all over his plants.

The crowd, sensing a one-sided contest, reached out for him but he was unable to respond. For the first time in these championships he looked exactly what he is: a very good snooker player, the 13th best in the world.

If O'Sullivan did nothing spectacular, there were few mistakes. The reds spread like measles whenever he went into them and, just like the day before, his control of the cue-ball was exemplary.

After nine minutes of potless sparring O'Sullivan won the first frame of the afternoon with comfortable breaks of 41 and 30 to move 10-7 ahead.

He looked in the mood for something a little more spectacular when he took five blacks with his reds to build up a 40-0 lead in the 18th. But just as the theatre started to hiss with whispers of a possible maximum, he missed a simple red; so short and simple that he was probably already eyeing up the next black. Another break of 45, though, saw him home 85-0.

The next frame brought Dott's solitary triumph of the afternoon.However, he wore the expression of man who had settled for the runners-up cheque of £125,000 (€185,000). He had already played the best snooker of his life and yesterday the size of that achievement appeared to leave him a tired figure.

It was not a great final, compared to last year's climax between Mark Williams and Ken Doherty, or the collision of Peter Ebdon and Hendry the year before.

But O'Sullivan's persevering excellence kept the crowd in thrall.