Swimming: Short and Very Sweet for Foster

Snooker

Ronnie O'Sullivan consolidated his position as world No1 by taking his 16th world- ranking title and the £60,000 first prize with a 9-5 victory over Ian McCulloch, the home-town hero, in the Totesport grand prix here at the Guild Hall last night.

This win eased the 28-year-old O'Sullivan ahead of Mark Williams and John Higgins on the all-time list to go third behind Steve Davis (28 career titles) and Stephen Hendry (35). It appears that in his growing maturity he has sensed an opportunity to establish a dominance similar to that of Hendry in the 90s, Davis in the 80s and his new mentor Ray Reardon, six times world champion, in the 70s.

Even so this was not O'Sullivan's most devastating display but McCulloch's suspect positional play meant that several of his openings were poorly exploited.

"I'm pleased with the win but there's a lot of work to be done," said O'Sullivan with his customary candour. "I set high standards for myself and Ian can play better than that. I just want to improve and try to raise the bar again."

O'Sullivan's second-best form, though, proved formidable and, broadly, this was good enough for him to nurse the 4-1 lead he achieved through decisive efforts of 86, 49, 104 and 72. A black-ball win after 35 grinding minutes increased this to 5-1.

McCulloch, who came to prominence by reaching the 2002 British Open final with wins over Williams and Higgins, has elevated himself from the ranks of the journeymen to 17th in the world rankings with the aid of Graham Slater, a sports psychologist.

His scalps last week included Jimmy White and Hendry and he was able to keep O'Sullivan at bay sufficiently to win the last frame of the afternoon and, with a run of 66, the first of the evening.

O'Sullivan immediately reasserted himself, though, with 104 and from level pegging added the next with a late 43 to lead 7-3, a position that all but ensured victory.

However, the 33-year-old Prestonian creditably salvaged two more frames with breaks of 69 and 78 before O'Sullivan, with 71, applied the closure which had seemed only a matter of time.

"The whole week I've been here I've really struggled," said O'Sullivan, not an assessment that many would make after seeing him produce two 135s during his 5-0 trouncing of Mark Selby in the quarter-finals and some superb, if relatively brief, spells in other matches.

"My match play is good but something technical is wrong. I knew I could still win playing the hard stuff. That's why I had to rely so much on safety and keeping things tight.

"I like to play a beautiful game and caress the balls around but this week I've got by on my B game and by rolling my sleeves up.

"I felt sorry for Ian. You could see he wanted it so bad. That's understandable but he got in his own way looking at shots that weren't on and making things complex."

Paul Hunter, beaten 6-3 by O'Sullivan in the Saturday evening semi-final, may emerge as his most serious challenger this season because Hendry, Williams and Higgins, with so many world titles between them, have all started the campaign in much the same disappointing fashion as they ended the last one.