Ronnie O'Sullivan took the early initiative in his bid to win the Embassy World Championship title for the first time as he went into a 6-2 lead over John Higgins in the opening session of the final at Sheffield.
O'Sullivan got off to a quick start in this best of 35 frames final. A break of 88 clinched the first frame, but Higgins was showing no signs of weariness from his marathon semi-final clash with Matthew Stevens and he was quickly back on level terms thanks to breaks of 47 and 45. O'Sullivan put together breaks of 81 and 47 to take the next two frames and lead 3-1 at the first break.
The break seemed to cause both players to lose their concentration and the first frame after the resumption took a pedestrian 32 minutes before O'Sullivan stretched his lead to three with a 34 clearance. Higgins responded in spectacular style with a 135 clearance in frame six to make it 4-2 and it was also the 50th hundred of the tournament. But O'Sullivan re-established control in the final two frames of the session. Runs of 48 and 42 secured frame seven and then a 70 break in the next left Higgins needing snookers and he conceded after leaving his opponent an easy red.
Latest:
J Higgins (Sco) 5-9 R O'Sullivan (Eng)
Filed by Pat Nugent
