O'Sullivan wins Premier League for seventh time - 02/12/2007

PartyBets.com Premier League final
Ronnie O'Sullivan 7-4 John Higgins
O'Sullivan's scores first
0-73 (Higgins 73), 84-4 (O'Sullivan 54), 82-49 (O'Sullivan 66, Higgins 45), 26-80 (Higgins 40, 40), 0-77 (Higgins 42,35), 90-2 (O'Sullivan 80), 104-29 (O'Sullivan 104), 86-14 (O'Sullivan 86), 111-14 (O'Sullivan 110), 0-108 (Higgins 104), 107-0 (O'Sullivan 69)

RONNIE O'Sullivan has won the Premier League Snooker title for the seventh time.

O'Sullivan, 31, clinched the trophy for the fourth successive season thanks to a 7-4 victory over reigning World Champion John Higgins in the final at the AECC, Aberdeen.

It ends nine months without a competition win for The Rocket, who also pockets a grand total of £83,000 from the 2007 PartyBets.com Premier League Snooker season.

"That was my toughest match in the Premier League in all the last four years, but I managed to keep sticking in there." said O'Sullivan, who made two century breaks and another five over 50.

"John missed some balls but if it wasn't for the (25-second) shot clock then he would've won. The shot clock seems to suit me more than anyone else but I was a bit fortunate.

"A tournament is a tournament and if you ask the players if they would rather win here or in the Northern Ireland Trophy or the Malta Cup then they would say you would rather win this.

"This is one of the most important tournaments so it does not bother me that it's not a ranking event."

Higgins was left to rue a missed pink in the sixth frame that would have gave him a 4-2 lead in this first-to-seven contest.

But he admitted that the better player won after he himself had made too many errors later in the match.

"When you give someone a sniff, then there's no one better at taking advantage than Ronnie," said Higgins.

"The shot clock is there and the time-outs are there to help you but in the end you panic. Ronnie made it 3-3 and I missed a few after that.

"I then had given myself to much to do and if you give him a chance he only needs the one.

"I missed a few easy ones which you cannot afford to do."

In the last two finals, O'Sullivan had won 7-0 on both occasions, defeating Stephen Hendry in the winter of 2005 and Jimmy White in 2006.

However, Higgins, backed by a large, partisan crowd at the AECC in Aberdeen, ensured he would not suffer a similar fate as a break of 73 saw him take the opening frame.

But it became 1-1 as The Rocket took the second. The critical moment came when Higgins, trying to escape from a safety trap, clipped the pink to bring O'Sullivan back to the table and he then made a break of 54 to level the score.

Higgins moved 49 ahead in the third after a break of 45 and benefiting from an O'Sullivan foul when he narrowly missed a thin-cut safety attempt. But the Englishman was soon back in action, although could not wrap up the frame in one visit.

He lost position going from green to brown and subsequently missed the latter but Higgins could not take advantage as O'Sullivan moved into the lead for the first time. It did not last long as Higgins recorded two breaks of 40 to make it 2-2.

Runs of 42 and 35 saw Higgins take the fifth but a break of 80, the highest so far in the match, made it 3-3 at the mid-match interval point.

O'Sullivan had defeated Higgins 5-1 in the opening league round of the competition but this match was proving to be a much closer contest, with both players needing to win another four frames to take the £50,000 top prize.

Surprisingly, there had not been a century break so far but that changed in the seventh as O'Sullivan once more moved in front thanks to a clearance of 104.

Higgins wasted a good chance to pull level when he made an error after pocketing 14 points and O'Sullivan took full advantage in ruthless fashion.

His break of 86 was the third successive break of more than 80 as he gained a two-frame lead for the first time this match.

Higgins had underperformed since the interval and made another mistake in the ninth as he missed a shot to thin cut the red into the top right pocket. O'Sullivan missed the black off the spot but Higgins failed to capitalise as he immediately failed to sink a red with the rest.

O'Sullivan, given this opportunity, was in no mood to pass it and his second century in the final, this time a 110, moved him 6-3 ahead, one away from glory.

He was unlucky in the next as he watched the cue ball go in-off and Higgins, whose previous highest run of the match had been 73, produced a fine effort of 104 to ensure there would be at least one more frame.

But it could not trigger a memorable fightback as O'Sullivan, due to a break of 69, clinched the victory to become champion again.