In snooker, Chinese sensation Liang Wenbo put in a solid performance in the final of the Shanghai Masters, but it just wasn't enough against the world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan.
The Rocket had a 70 break to take the first frame. Liang tried his best to set up a variety of traps to bring himself back into the frame. But the Rocket went through all of them easily and raced to 3-0 lead with some pinpoint shooting.
Liang then made the most of a big error by O'Sullivan and pulled one frame back, to make it 3-1. But Ronnie came back with an 87 to win the next frame to go 4-1 up. He was clearly upset at having thrown away the chance of a 147, resulting in a warning from the referee for showing his temper. The Chinese stayed cool though, sinking an 81 in the next frame to trim the deficit to 4-2. O'Sullivan recovered and continued his dominance later, taking the next two frames while Liang claimed one.
6-3 it was at half time.Both bagged one frame apiece in from the second half to make the score 7-4. Ronnie then made a crucial error, and Liang managed to cut the deficit to 7-5. But O'Sullivan made no mistakes in the rest of the match, claiming the next three frames in a row to win the Shanghai Masters 10-5. With that result, O'Sullivan ends a spell of 13 months without a ranking title. Liang's second place finish lifts him several places up in the rankings.
Liang Wenbo said, "Generally speaking, I played several good frames in the first half. But basically, I'm not satisfied with my performance, especially with too many errors. I didn't give O'Sullivan much pressure."
(CCTV September 14, 2009)
