Ronnie O'Sullivan has claimed his third World Championship crown after completing a comprehensive 18-8 win over Ali Carter in the final last night.

Resuming the final session 16-8 in front, O'Sullivan wasted little time in securing the two frames he needed.

The 32-year-old started the evening's play with a 69 break and after Carter missed a chance to claw a frame back, O'Sullivan's 34 sealed the win.

O'Sullivan was always in control and had led 11-5 after the opening day.

The victory is fine reward for O'Sullivan, who has been in scintillating form over the past two weeks.

He fired a superb 147 in his second-round win over Mark Williams and had 12 century breaks, with five in the top 10, during a memorable tournament.

And in his semi-final against seven-time Crucible champion Stephen Hendry, O'Sullivan produced what the Scot called "snooker perfection" as he claimed a stunning 17-6 victory.

In the final, O'Sullivan only showed glimpses of the form that defeated Hendry but was never really tested by a player competing in his first ranking event final.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.