Ronnie O'Sullivan clinched a third snooker world title yesterday with a resounding 18-8 win over Ali Carter in the final at The Crucible.

Ronnie O'Sullivan celebrates after winning the final of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England yesterday. The fast-scoring Englishman won his third world snooker title, beating Ali Carter 18-8 in the final on Monday.

With Carter struggling to find his best form in his first appearance in a ranking final, O'Sullivan established an 11-5 lead at the close of play on Sunday. He then moved to within two frames of victory at 16-8 at the end of the penultimate session.

Carter provided little resistance as fellow Briton O'Sullivan took less than half an hour to win the first two frames of the evening to land the title.

Despite the margin of victory, O'Sullivan said he was far from happy with his performance in the final.

"I played really good in the semi-final but I didn't feel at ease in the final," he told reporters.

"I never really got going so it was just a matter of sticking in there. The best I felt in the whole match was in the first three frames and the last two frames."

O'Sullivan, who also triumphed at The Crucible in 2001 and 2004, acknowledged it would be a tall order to overhaul Stephen Hendry's record of seven world titles.

He said: "It's nice to have got the third one and I'd like to think I could win a few more, but there are a lot of hungry players who put pressure on you if you're not on your game."

O'Sullivan also said, not for the first time, that he could consider quitting the sport.

"I don't know what the future holds, to be honest. It could be time to have a rest and go out while I'm at the top," added the 32-year-old.

Carter, who matched O'Sullivan's maximum 147 break in the tournament, said: "I'm disappointed because I didn't really play well. Hopefully I can go one better next time."

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 6, 2008)