Chinese Hong Kong player Marco Fu pulled out the stops to beat
Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 in tense competition at the final of 2007
Grand Prix Snooker Tournament in Aberdeen, Scotland on Sunday.
It is Fu's second event final. His 1998 breakthrough
unfortunately ended with a 9-2 defeat to Stephen Lee.
A victory was important for the "Rocket" O'Sullivan, who has
failed to earn any ranking points for the past 30 months.
The in-form Fu produced a 110 break in the third frame before
cruising to a 3-1 lead. That gain paled when O'Sullivan struck back
with three consecutive wins, including a 127-0 in the fifth. By
half-time, the lead had reversed to 4-3.
The Englishman widened the gap to 5-3 after the game resumed.
The feisty Fu leveled to 5-5 by back to back blanking his rival,
99-0 and 95-0.
The Hong Kong pooler produced a 117 break in the 11th frame and
deflected O'Sullivan's attempts for a comeback in the 12th, making
it 7-5 in the best of 15 game.
O'Sullivan responded with a 65-44 win, but Marco Fu took the
final frame to win his first ever championship in a professional
snooker ranking tournament.
(CRI October 22, 2007)