Chinese teenager Ding Junhui (
The Chinese sensation emulated the feats of former world champions O'Sullivan and John Higgins and helped himself to a ?30,000 first prize.
It was 19-year-old Ding's third major title to add to his 2005 China Open and UK Championship crowns.
Ding's latest title triumph was watched by his mother Chen Xi Jun and her son was delighted to pick up another trophy.
"This match was more difficult for me than playing Steve Davis in the UK final," Ding said.
"I always felt under pressure and I had to play better than I did against Steve. It's a good start to the season and maybe, at the end of it, I might win the World Championship," he said.
O'Sullivan was full of praise for Ding.
"He has a natural gift and doesn't make any mistakes and that's why he is a winner," O'Sullivan said.
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
LACKLUSTER FIGHT: At one stage, the referee lost patience with the two fighters, warning them in the fourth round that ‘the fans did not pay to see this crap’ Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on Friday knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their controversial Netflix-backed bout in Miami. The fight at the Kaseya Center, which saw both men reportedly splitting a mammoth purse of US$184 million, had triggered alarm across boxing due to the gulf in physical size and class between Britain’s two-time former world champion Joshua and Paul, an Internet personality who has forged a lucrative career through a handful of novelty boxing contests. However, in the event, Joshua made hard work of defeating his vastly less accomplished opponent, before his superior size and power eventually told
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were ordered on Tuesday by a French labor court to pay their former forward Kylian Mbappe up to 61 million euros (US$71.6 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses. France captain Mbappe, who left PSG in June last year to join Real Madrid, had been claiming more than 260 million euros in total from his former club. PSG in turn had demanded Mbappe pay them 440 million euros. Mbappe, 26, also claimed the Qatari-owned reigning European champions had applied the wrong French legal classification to his contract, but that was rejected by the court. The labor court said
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) would in future be held every four years instead of every two years, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Saturday. The surprise decision was made at the body’s executive committee meeting in Rabat and announced at a news conference by CAF president Patrice Motsepe. The tournament, which brings in an estimated 80 percent of CAF’s revenue, has traditionally been held every two years since its inception in 1957. Yesterday marked the start of the 35th edition, hosted in Morocco with the home team taking on Comoros. Motsepe said the next AFCON finals,
RSS