Ronnie O'Sullivan has exacted revenge against John Higgins, winning the Regal Masters final in Glasgow 9-4. O'Sullivan lost out to Higgins in this final a year ago but he avenged that defeat in the most lethal fashion to collect the £65,000 first prize, his eighth title in Scotland and the 25th of his career.
O'Sullivan took a 5-1 lead in the early stage of the opening session before Higgins clawed his way back to leave the pair separated by two frames, at 5-3, by the break. Higgins then reduced the deficit to 5-4 in the second session before O'Sullivan upped the tempo, allowing his opponent just 65 points in the closing four frames while he fired breaks of 43, 112, 52 and 91.
"I've been working on my game for the last couple of years and certain things are coming back to me that make sense," said O'Sullivan afterwards. "I still struggle at times but now I'm more confident of my form coming back. I came to Glasgow with high expectations because I've been demoralising players in practice. But I know it's so much different in matches because you only get once chance. Just to win one match was nice, to win two was fantastic and to win three is even better."
"I'd like to win 50 or 60 titles by the time I end my career," he added. "It will be hard to win 70 like Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry. But I definitely think I can win 50 odd. That's the sort of goal I need to set myself to keep my interest."
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
