7 May 2012
Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Ali Carter 18-11 to secure his fourth World Championship title at the Crucible.
O'Sullivan, 36, resumed the day 10-7 ahead and took the first four frames, including a quick-fire break of 101, his 12th century of the tournament.
Carter looked a beaten man but rallied to win three frames in a row and take the match into a final session.
But Carter won only one more frame as the unstoppable O'Sullivan wrapped up proceedings in a little under an hour.
O'Sullivan, who received a cheque for £255,000, immediately announced his intention to take a six-month sabbatical from the game.
The final was a repeat of 2008, when O'Sullivan won 18-8, one of 11 victories over Carter in 11 previous meetings in ranking events.
And while Carter's obdurate displays before the final suggested he would be a tougher nut to crack than four years ago, O'Sullivan, who demonstrated unerring focus throughout the tournament, had too much poise and too much class.
O'Sullivan was suffering from food poisoning on Sunday but he appeared to have shaken off the effects before Monday's opener, rattling in a break of 101 to stretch his lead to four frames.
Carter missed a relatively straightforward pink to hand his fellow Essex player the next frame, and the next two frames followed a similar pattern.
In the next, Carter had three chances to secure the frame but missed them all, before the 32-year-old, with only the colours to clear, missed two attempts at the yellow to allow O'Sullivan to surge into a 14-7 lead.
At that stage it looked like O'Sullivan might win the match with a session to spare, but Carter avoided the ignominy, returning after the mid-session interval to take a scrappy frame before raising his arms in mock triumph.
Having steadied the ship, Carter compiled a battling 105, his first century break of the final, before reducing the gap to four courtesy of a break of 53. But O'Sullivan refocused, making a run of 64 to lead by five frames.
After the restart, O'Sullivan demonstrated his superior safety game once again, waiting for Carter to make a mistake before taking the frame with a run of 70.
Carter took the next, capitalising on a missed black by his opponent to chisel out a frame-winning break of 64, only for O'Sullivan to hit back, moving to within one frame of the title with breaks of 26 and 46 after some errant safety play from Carter.
And O'Sullivan wrapped up proceedings in the next, launching into his final assault on the world title with a thin cut to the middle which culminated in a match-winning break of 61.
Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Ali Carter 18-11 to secure his fourth World Championship title at the Crucible.
O'Sullivan, 36, resumed the day 10-7 ahead and took the first four frames, including a quick-fire break of 101, his 12th century of the tournament.
Carter looked a beaten man but rallied to win three frames in a row and take the match into a final session.
But Carter won only one more frame as the unstoppable O'Sullivan wrapped up proceedings in a little under an hour.
O'Sullivan, who received a cheque for £255,000, immediately announced his intention to take a six-month sabbatical from the game.
The final was a repeat of 2008, when O'Sullivan won 18-8, one of 11 victories over Carter in 11 previous meetings in ranking events.
And while Carter's obdurate displays before the final suggested he would be a tougher nut to crack than four years ago, O'Sullivan, who demonstrated unerring focus throughout the tournament, had too much poise and too much class.
O'Sullivan was suffering from food poisoning on Sunday but he appeared to have shaken off the effects before Monday's opener, rattling in a break of 101 to stretch his lead to four frames.
Carter missed a relatively straightforward pink to hand his fellow Essex player the next frame, and the next two frames followed a similar pattern.
In the next, Carter had three chances to secure the frame but missed them all, before the 32-year-old, with only the colours to clear, missed two attempts at the yellow to allow O'Sullivan to surge into a 14-7 lead.
At that stage it looked like O'Sullivan might win the match with a session to spare, but Carter avoided the ignominy, returning after the mid-session interval to take a scrappy frame before raising his arms in mock triumph.
Having steadied the ship, Carter compiled a battling 105, his first century break of the final, before reducing the gap to four courtesy of a break of 53. But O'Sullivan refocused, making a run of 64 to lead by five frames.
After the restart, O'Sullivan demonstrated his superior safety game once again, waiting for Carter to make a mistake before taking the frame with a run of 70.
Carter took the next, capitalising on a missed black by his opponent to chisel out a frame-winning break of 64, only for O'Sullivan to hit back, moving to within one frame of the title with breaks of 26 and 46 after some errant safety play from Carter.
And O'Sullivan wrapped up proceedings in the next, launching into his final assault on the world title with a thin cut to the middle which culminated in a match-winning break of 61.
