Ronnie won the Tour Championship 2019, beating Neil Robertson by 13-11 in the Final. This win brings him on 36 ranking titles, a joint-record with Stephen Hendry. It also put Ronnie back on top of the rankings: he’s the World n°1 again, for the first time since 2010. This victory also means that he’s won the inaugural Coral Cup.

Congratulations Ronnie!

Here are the match scores (snooker.org)

And some great pictures to celebrate, thanks to Tai Chengzhe! 

Here are the reports by Worldsnooker on yesterday’s action:

Afternoon session – Neil Robertson comes back at 8-8

Sunday 24 Mar 2019 04:15PM

Neil Robertson dug deep to move level with Ronnie O’Sullivan at 8-8 and set up an enticing final session at the Coral Tour Championship in Llandudno.

The Australian trailed 5-3 after yesterday evening’s action, but rallied this afternoon to restore parity and take the momentum heading into tonight’s conclusion. They will play the best of 25 encounter to a conclusion from 7pm, with the winner taking home the £150,000 top prize.

If O’Sullivan wins this evening he will equal Stephen Hendry’s record of 36 ranking titles, while 15-time ranking event winner Robertson is aiming to move into sixth position alone in the all-time ranking event winner’s list.

The Rocket, who will move to world number one if he lifts the trophy this evening, claimed the opening frame with a century run of 100 as he looked to shake off his opponent. However, Robertson stubbornly battled to keep himself in touch.

O’Sullivan had looked to be set to move four ahead, but missed the final pink with the rest after landing in an awkward position. Robertson deposited the pink and the black to make it 6-4. He followed that up with a century break of 106 to move within a frame. O’Sullivan then claimed the next to head into the mid-session 7-5 in front.

They traded frames as five-time World Champion O’Sullivan went 8-6 up. However, it was Robertson who secured the final two frames of the session to set up a mouth watering finale.

There were mistakes from both in that session, but towards the end, Neil clearly took the upper hand as Ronnie looked a bit tired and struggling for concentration.

Evening session – Ronnie wins by 13-11

Sunday 24 Mar 2019 10:33PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan secured the 36^thranking title of his career to equal Stephen Hendry’s record, after defeating Neil Robertson 13-11 in the final of the Coral Tour Championship in Llandudno.

Hendry has topped the all-time ranking event winner’s list for over 21 years since his win at the 1997 Thailand Masters. O’Sullivan now joins the legendary Scot at the top of the pile after claiming his third ranking victory of the season.

The historic moment follows on from another momentous landmark at the recent Coral Players Championship, where he made the 1000^th century of his career in the decisive frame to clinch the title. O’Sullivan has also secured the inaugural Coral Cup, having accumulated the most prize money across the three Coral Series events.

By earning the £150,000 top prize, O’Sullivan has moved to world number one for the first time since May 2010. He has displaced Mark Selby and ends a four-year reign, which extends back to February 2015. At the age of 43, O’Sullivan becomes the oldest world number one since Ray Reardon in 1983.

Overall this is O’Sullivan’s fifth victory of the season, having won invitational titles at the Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions. He has now earned over £900,000 in prize money for the campaign.

Robertson leaves Llandudno with £60,000 for making the final and has now reached three consecutive ranking event showpieces. He won the Welsh Open and was runner-up to O’Sullivan at the Coral Players Championship.

The Australian produced a strong showing session in the afternoon session to set up this evening’s blockbuster finale, with the score finely poised at 8-8.

O’Sullivan got tonight’s play underway in spectacular fashion, firing in a break of 129 to take the opener. There was then an extended safety battle on the final yellow in the following frame, which Robertson won to restore parity once more. They continued to trade frames and went into the mid-session locked together at 10-10.

Five-time World Champion O’Sullivan took two on the bounce when they returned to move one from victory at 12-10. However, Robertson showed great character to keep in the match by producing a gutsy run of 56 to draw within a frame.

Robertson had an opportunity to force a decider, but missed a black off the spot on a break of 28. That was ruthlessly pounced upon by O’Sullivan who produced a fine contribution of 89 to take home the title. He will now turn his attentions to aiming for a sixth world title when he takes centre stage at the Crucible Theatre next month for the World Championship.

“There are certain records that mean a lot and the amount of ranking titles is one of them. It is about longevity and consistency and that is a true test of any player. It comes over time and is about the amount of titles you can win. That is quite a good one,” said O’Sullivan. “To be world number one is crazy really. I have only played in half of the events that everyone has played in. I don’t know how that has happened.

“When players like Neil and Judd Trump you are never going to have it easy. You are going to have to play supersonic snooker to get through. It was always going to be tough but I was pleased to get through.”

Robertson was left to rue missing his opportunity to take the match to a decider, but was keen to take the positives on another strong showing this week.

Robertson said: “The black I missed is pretty fresh in the memory. The most disappointing thing is that I didn’t even twitch on it. I was caught in two minds on whether to make another canon on the reds or play for the loose ones in the middle. With such a great chance to make it 12-12, who knows what could have happened. The most disappointing thing is how hard I had to fight to stay in the match. He looked like pulling away a couple of times, but I kept hanging on and I am proud of how I managed to do that.”

Ronnie’s interview in the Pressroom

And Ronnie came on twitter shortly after the match, with this

Crazy! Not a bad day at the office Thanks to all my fans for the continued support #rankingpoints

If you missed what happened on Saturday evening follow this link.