O'Sullivan Shows Final Class Under Pressure

Ronnie O'Sullivan took a great stride towards his 21st world ranking title by leading Dave Harold, the world No28, 6-1 at the interval of the best-of-17 frames Northern Ireland trophy final at the Waterfront Hall yesterday.

Harold, at 41 the oldest finalist since Jimmy White clinched the 2004 Players Championship, won the 1993 Asian Open as a 500-1 outsider, but had not reached a final since 1994 nor a semi since 2003.

Having eliminated the defending champion, Stephen Maguire, in the quarter- finals and held on from 5-1 up to nail the twice world champion John Higgins 6-4 in the semis he yesterday won the opening frame and led 44-0 in the second before O'Sullivan outclassed him.

The world champion made breaks of 68, 103, 84 and 54 that allowed him to move 4-1 ahead. O'Sullivan was never threatened in the sixth and from 0-60 down in the last frame of the afternoon he cleared the final seven reds and the first five colors for a break of 76.

As four of these reds had lain in apparently safe positions and a delicate positional cannon was required to prise the brown away from the pink, this was nothing less than a demonstration of genius executed with an air of certainty. Although the final was turning into a procession, O'Sullivan had amply shown earlier in the week his capacity to produce his best when it matters most without compromising his positive choice of shot.

Trailing Ken Doherty 4-2 he won 5-4 without the Dubliner potting another ball. After his 5-3 win over Joe Perry, he led Barry Hawkins 4-1 only for the world No27 to level at 4-4 and go 35 in front in the decider. But again O'Sullivan responded, not allowing Hawkins to score. After that 5-4 victory he was put under pressure by Allister Carter, whom he defeated to win his third world title last May. Their semi-final produced two centuries and nine breaks over 50 before the Londoner emerged a 6-5 winner.

Carter's performances have been more confident since his exploits in Sheffield but at the crucial moment in the decider he hedged his bets with his shot choice on the last red and did not score again. A win would have been of significance for Carter, whose head-to-head against O'Sullivan is now 0-9, but he has at least risen to fourth in the provisional rankings.

Before play yesterday Harold was assured of £15,000 and a rise to world No16, while the No1 O'Sullivan moved towards the £30,000 first prize.