O'Sullivan beats Murphy to retain Shanghai Masters crown (original) (raw)

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the Shanghai Masters for a third year in a row with an 11-9 victory over Shaun Murphy.

The pair split the 10-frame opening session as the lead went back and forth.

A break of 111 in frame 13 put Murphy 7-6 up, but 43-year-old O'Sullivan then rattled off four in a row, including two centuries, to move within one.

Murphy, 37, threatened to take it to a final frame but a break of 86 from the five-time World Champion did the job.

The title in the non-ranking event was the 72nd of O'Sullivan's career and first of the new season. He remains second in the world rankings behind current World Champion Judd Trump.