RONNIE O'Sullivan came within a whisker of forcing a decider in Sunday's Champion Of Champions snooker, but his miss on the green (see video) left fans heartbroken. Shaun Murphy then cleared green to black to lift his first Champion of Champions after not having won a match in the previous tournaments.

One fan, who posted the missed ball on Youtube - wrote underneath the video: "It could have been one of the greatest comebacks by the Rocket, but look how he missed this green ball. At least it made me shattered. Murphy won one of the greatest final 10 - 8."

The Rocket, who will be 42 in December, won the English Open weeks before, and was gracious in defeat and told ITV 4 that he was just trying to enjoy his snooker now.

The Missed Green

Murphy said he had been on the end of a few hidings from O'Sullivan in the past, including the World Championships, and said that O'Sullivan was the best player by far and is the standard to beat in events.

The Champion of Champions at the Ricoh Arena will be held there for at least 2020 - as the win for Murphy has guaranteed him a place in next year's event in Coventry.

The first session was a close one with Murphy edging it 5 - 4. The Magician then stormed into an 8 - 4 lead with O'Sullivan not getting into gear, but then at 9 - 5, the Rocket upped the ante and returned with a ton and won three frames on the spin to go 9 - 8.

Fans were willing him to clear to force a decider, but the green got in his way.

O'Sullivan has won two Champion of Champions and has appeared as a losing finalist now on two occasions. Last season he lost to John Higgins.

The Champion of Champions pays out a whopping £100.000 to the winner, but is not a ranking event, but, in a poll posted by Mark Allen, a pro in the top 16, fans overwhelmingly voted for the CofC to be a ranking event.

Of the 2000 plus fans who voted - over 70% agreed with Allen that the event should hold ranking points.

It is considered the "fourth major" of the snooker season, and effectively players crave to earn a spot at the Ricoh. It was also a good week for Anthony Hamilton, who managed to reach a semi-final on his debut in the Champion of Champions but lost out on a final spot to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Hamilton gave great account of himself in Coventry.

SightRight

Murphy's win was, apparently, the 24th title win under SightRight which Murphy has been training with since teaming up with coach Steve Feeney earlier this year. Previous winners include Martin Gould, German Masters, and Stuart Bingham 2015 World Championship and Rory McLeod, Ruhr Open.

Earlier this year, Welsh potting machine Mark Williams also won the World Six Reds Championship - after teaming up with SightRight earlier to improve further. SightRight is patented technology in a cue that helps players align better on a shot based on their eyesight/dominance and provides feedback on whether a cueist is in line on the shot.

For more details:

Visit sightrightuk.com/snookercoaching.
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