Ronnie O'Sullivan - in awesome form.

REGAL MASTERS

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Ronnie O'Sullivan's golden start to the new season continued with a 9-6 defeat of Stephen Hendry to claim the Regal Masters title in Motherwell on Sunday night.

The 24-year-old who won the Champions Cup in September and was runner-up in the Grand Prix a week ago kept his head despite Hendry making two centuries and three 80 breaks to scoop the £62,000 first prize.

The victory, which gives O'Sullivan his 18th professional title, takes the world number four to £209,400 in prize money for the season.

He was particularly pleased to have held his concentration against one of the game's most deadly pressure players.

"I gave it 100% because you need to do that against a player of Stephen's quality," said O'Sullivan, who first won the Regal Masters title in 1998.

"He hasn't had the best start to the season, but I knew he was playing well and that I'd have to get in and score heavily.

"I'm delighted to have won because as far as I'm concerned I've beaten the greatest player who has ever lived."

Hendry, three times the Masters champion, began the final in superb fashion with a run of 120 - his first century of the week - but O'Sullivan limited him to only nine points as he went 2-1 ahead.

Leading 3-2, O'Sullivan claimed the sixth to go two frames clear for the first time before Hendry's break of 84 cut his arrears to 4-3.

But in the final frame of the afternoon, O'Sullivan pounced with 54 to take a two-frame lead into the final session.

On the resumption, Hendry knocked in a break of 127 - the highest of the match - to again fire back into contention.

But O'Sullivan extended the lead to two frames once more by making it 6-4, aided by a break of 52.

Hendry, beaten in the quarter-finals of the British Open and last 32 at the Grand Prix earlier this month, produced his fifth big break of the match (88) to close to 6-5 - but O'Sullivan's 76 then made it 7-5 at the final interval.

The Londoner then clinched a three-frame advantage at 8-5 with a break of 62, and although Hendry brilliantly cleared with 39 to the black in the next O'Sullivan's concentration held out and he bounced back with breaks of 44 and 74 in the last of the evening to seal the title.

Hendry admitted: "I just made two many mistakes and couldn't take my chances when they came along.

"Ronnie was a lot sharper and he made fewer unforced errors - but I'll take some positives from the week as a whole."