Ronnie O’Sullivan claims Shanghai Masters title – and immediately gives trophy away to a kid
O'Sullivan becomes the first player to break the £10million-barrier in career prize money but silverware for winning tournament and taking the highest break were handed straight out to fans
RONNIE O'SULLIVAN won the Shanghai Masters – but then gave away his trophy to a random Chinese girl!
The Rocket defended the £200,000 title with an 11-9 victory over Barry Hawkins, becoming the first player to pass the £10m career prize money mark.
O’Sullivan, a five-time world champion, controversially claimed on Friday female refs should stick solely to women’s sports.
But the 42-year-old was in a far more charitable mood yesterday as he gave away his pot of silverware as well as the highest-break trophy to kids in the crowd.
O’Sullivan said: “I have so many at home, maybe about 100 trophies.
“My first trophy won was special to me. But when you get so many, you don’t really think about them, you only remember the experiences.
“I thought I would give it to the girl so she can put it in her bedroom, she can remember this match and maybe in years to come, remember she was at the snooker.
“I thought it was more important for her to have it than me.”
Hawkins raced into a 6-4 lead on the back of two early centuries and was in an excellent position to win his first major final against O’Sullivan.
Yet O’Sullivan rallied in the closing stages, sealing the non-ranking tournament for a third time with a break of 122 – his first event of the new season.
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Hawkins, 39, said: “I’m disappointed to lose another final. I struggled a bit.
“Ronnie is a fantastic player. I wasn’t good enough at the end. You have to play at a high standard most of the time against him.
“I wasn’t worried about other defeats, but I just didn’t keep that standard up.”