Get email updates with the day's biggest stories Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Ronnie O’Sullivan became snooker’s first £10million man with a brilliant defence of his Shanghai Masters crown last night. The Rocket pocketed the £200,000 first prize with a high-class 11-9 victory over world No.7 Barry Hawkins in China. And that took five-time world champion O’Sullivan’s career prize money to over the eight-figure mark – a figure not reached even by Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis. It was O’Sullivan’s first tournament of the season – and he showed the rest what they now have to deal with for the rest of the campaign. The world No.3, now 42, shows every sign of improving with age and this third success in Shanghai sounded out an ominous warning to his rivals. (Image: Visual China Group) Hawkins, 39, had been hoping for revenge for final defeats at the Crucible in 2013 and a 10-1 drubbing at the Masters two years ago. But despite a battling and brave display Hawkins, who led 6-4 at one stage, came up just short. O’Sullivan, who took his tally of century breaks to 953 with two more, gave the trophy away to a girl fan in the audience. He said: “I have so many trophies at home – the first one is very special but now it is more about experiences. She can have it at home to remind her of this snooker match. (Image: Visual China Group) “Barry was the in-form player this week but I played well tonight and am really pleased with the victory. I had beaten him in finals before, but he beat me at the World Championship recently. “I wasn’t unhappy being only 6-4 down after the first session, that was a result for me really.” Hawkins said: “I am bit disappointed to have lost another final to him after playing well in the first session. Ronnie played well tonight, and we all know what a fantastic player he is. “It can be intimidating playing him in a big final but I didn’t feel that today. I just couldn’t keep my standard up until the end.” Hawkins had led 6-4 after the first session – and it could have been worse at that stage for O’Sullivan. (Image: Visual China Group) The Hawk rattled in breaks of 125, 55 and 132 and that was good enough to lead against the Rocket. But the expected onslaught materialised and O’Sullivan turned the match on its head with four straight frames and breaks of 64, 61, 56 and 113. Hawkins then fell 10-7 behind, three down with four to play – before rallying to close the deficit to just a single frame. But a loose break-off shot from Hawkins in frame 20 proved terminal and O’Sullivan closed out the contest with a brilliant effort of 122.<doc-sep>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. 3 Ronnie O'Sullivan won the Shanghai Masters to break the £10m barrier in career prize money Credit: Instagram @Ronnie Ronnie O’Sullivan claims Shanghai Masters snooker title after beating Barry Hawkins 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. 3 O'Sullivan wasted little time handing over the Shanghai Masters trophy to a delighted fan Credit: Twitter @UnifyMgt 3 O'Sullivan also scooped the highest break trophy, which again went to a delighted fan Credit: Twitter @UnifyMgt “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. most read in sport CRYING BRU Fernandes breaks down in tears as Scholes slams Utd stars who 'accept losing' Revealed FLOP GEA De Gea let in 38th CONSECUTIVE penalty before missing own spot-kick in shootout Live Blog MAN UTD 1 (10) VILLARREAL 1 (11) Penalties heartbreak for United as De Gea misses in epic MAN UTD VERDICT Solskjaer blew chance to end trophy drought & it won't get easier than this Live Blog FOOTBALL NEWS LIVE Zidane QUITS Real Madrid, Antonio Conte leaves Inter Milan JEEPERS KEEPERS Agony for Man Utd as De Gea misses after epic shootout goes down to GOALIES 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.”<doc-sep>Ronnie O'Sullivan landed the Shanghai Masters title as he began his season in style - before gifting the trophy to a young fan. The 42-year-old beat Barry Hawkins 11-9 in the final to successfully defend his crown and collect the £200,000 top prize. But five-time world champion O'Sullivan then presented the silverware to a spectator. Ronnie O'Sullivan (L) beat Barry Hawkins 11-9 in the final to defend his Shanghai Masters crown The 42-year-old then gave away the trophy to a young spectator following his win The five-time world champion also gave away his high-break trophy to another spectator His management team, Unify Sports Management, tweeted a picture of a girl holding the trophy, with the caption: 'Delighted for @ronnieo147 to kick off his season with a win but he's still coming home trophyless! He gave his winner & high break trophy to kids in the crowd.' O'Sullivan may have been repaying the locals for backing him throughout the week. He wrote on Instagram: 'Fans this week have been absolutely amazing. Thanks to everyone for their support. Delighted with the win.' He had trailed 6-4 after the afternoon session but turned the match around in the evening He had trailed 6-4 after the afternoon session but turned the match around in the evening and finished with a break of 122. 'Tough on Barry, but I played well at the end of the match when it mattered so I am really happy to get this victory,' O'Sullivan said on worldsnooker.com. 'I managed to find something on the practice table before the start of the evening. I was struggling with my cueing a bit so it was nice to be able to play with a bit more confidence and freedom.'<doc-sep>
Last updated on .From the section Snooker This was O'Sullivan's sixth tournament win in the past 11 months Five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan successfully defended his Shanghai Masters title with an 11-9 win over Barry Hawkins in the final. The 42-year-old world number three was playing his first event since a second-round World Championship loss in April. Having beaten Kyren Wilson 10-6 to reach the final, he was 6-4 down to Hawkins, who made two early centuries. But O'Sullivan won the tournament, which is no longer a ranking event, for a third time with a break of 122. Hawkins, who came from 9-7 down to beat local favourite Ding Junhui in the final frame of their semi-final, began with a 125 in the opening frame and added a 132 to build a two-frame cushion at the interval. However, O'Sullivan, who lost to Ali Carter in Sheffield, produced breaks of 64, 61, 56 and 113 to capture the first four frames of the second session. He won six out of seven frames to move 10-7 ahead but as the frames became increasingly scrappy, fellow Englishman Hawkins, the world number seven, fought back again and reduced the deficit to one with a run of 74. But Hawkins edged a red out with his break off in frame 20 and O'Sullivan rolled in a superb century, the 953rd of his career, to secure the title and become the first player to pass £10m in career prize money. "Barry probably played the best snooker in the whole tournament," O'Sullivan said. "He played a great match with Ding and a good one with Mark Williams. He is the in form player. "It's tough on Barry, but I played well at the end of the match when it mattered so I am really happy to get this victory. I managed to find something on the practice table before the start of the evening. "I was struggling with my cueing a bit so it was nice to be able to play with a bit more confidence and freedom." Sign up to My Sport to follow snooker news and reports on the BBC app.