'The best tournament I've probably ever played in' - Ronnie O'Sullivan revels in Hong Kong Masters win over Marco Fu
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Updated 09/10/2022 at 15:41 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan survived a late scare to beat Marco Fu and take the Hong Kong Masters title. O'Sullivan had been 5-2 ahead but Fu roared back to 5-4, only for the Englishman to compile a nerveless century to take the match. O'Sullivan said afterwards that it was "unheard of" to play snooker in front of so many fans, with around 8,500 packing into the Hong Kong Coliseum.
Crowd chuckle as O’Sullivan breaks glass during Hong Kong Masters final
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the Hong Kong Masters title 6-4 after seeing off a fightback from local hero Marco Fu, and labelled the tournament "the best I've probably ever played in".
The final was played out in front of a world record crowd of over 8,500 at the Hong Kong Coliseum, who saw their home favourite come close to the title with a late charge before being pipped to the post by the Englishman.
And the overall event clearly went down well with O'Sullivan, who has seen pretty much everything in his snooker career, but felt this was something special.
O'Sullivan, who was compared to sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods by Fu in his runners-up speech, said: "It [the win] feels fantastic.
"First of all, I want to say, this is the best tournament I have probably ever played in. I’ve never played in front of more than 3,000 fans, and that was at the Queen Elizabeth.
"To have 9,000 fans watching a snooker match [is] unheard of. So hopefully we can come back year [after] year, because the fans have been fantastic. It has probably been the best week as a snooker player to play snooker. So I just want to thank everyone for making this such a special tournament.
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O’Sullivan and Fu get huge reception from record-breaking crowd at Hong Kong Masters
"It’s been a hard three years for everybody. For us to be able to play snooker in Hong Kong, and for the Hong Kong people to come and be able to watch live sport again, I think we are the first sport to do that, is just great. I have to thank the Hong Kong Snooker Association for making this happen.”
The champion was also asked about competing agaisnt Fu in his home country, and he had nothing but high praise for the world No. 100.
O'Sullivan said: "We’re like a family on tour. We play every week, we see each other all the time. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but to play Marco in front of the Hong Kong fans is like a dream. Marco is the number one Hong Kong player ever and to have that chance to play him in his home tournament is a fantastic experience for me.
"So happy to see Marco back. He was off the tour for a couple of years. His health is good, and you could just see the class is always there. So it’s great to see him back. Great to see him play fantastic snooker, and I'm sure he’ll be winning some tournaments very soon.
"He is too good of a player not to win tournaments.”
O’Sullivan nabbed the first frame of the match without conceding a single point, starting off with a long red and then sinking a blue with his left hand.
He then missed a black, but with Fu also missing, he was right back at the table, sinking reds.
The first frame error seemed to roll off Fu’s back, who picked up the second with 99 points, the crowd audibly cheering on the Hong Kong native.
World No.1 O'Sullivan then went on a three-frame winning streak, picking up on Fu’s mistakes and punishing them.
Fu came back to grab the sixth frame with 98 points as the 44 year old looked to establish some table time.
However, it seemed that every time Fu made his mark, he’d undo his hard work with simple errors and allow O’Sullivan to get back into it, which is how the Rocket nabbed the seventh frame, giving him a 5-2 lead.
It looked to be all but over in the eighth frame, with O’Sullivan one pot away from winning, but in an unbelievable sequence of events he potted a red at the wrong time, allowing Fu to clean up.
The ending of that eighth frame seemed to shake the Rocket slightly, and for the first time in the match, Fu seemed to be well on top, making it 5-4 with a 56 break.
Despite his opponent cutting down his significant lead, O’Sullivan regrouped with a champion break, with a lovely shot from the green back to the reds a particular highlight.
His total clearance of 114 secured his victory at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
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