Short sharp success for Neil Robertson

The Australian continued his perfect record in world ranking event finals to claim his sixth tournament success with a 5-1 victory.

The world champion potted confidently to beat clear favourite O'Sullivan, who had excelled in the shorter-match format throughout the tournament at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Robertson clinched the first frame by potting the green as O'Sullivan chased snookers and quickly doubled his advantage with a break of 107.

He started the third frame with a trademark long pot but failed to build on it and O'Sullivan produced a brilliant break of 72 after potting his first red down the cushion left-handed.

But O'Sullivan, who hit a 147 earlier in the week, badly missed a spotted pink in the next frame to allow Robertson to restore his two-frame lead before the interval.

A break of 66 left the three-time world champion sitting in his seat and Robertson clinched the trophy by cutting in the pink to move to 63-44 after both players had missed several chances to take control of the frame.

Robertson had earlier fought back from two frames behind to win his semi-final against Mark Williams 3-2 with breaks of 68, 101 and 80, and he was delighted to beat his "idol" in the final.

"I know he wasn't quite at his best but I like to think I put him under pressure," he said. "I made some really good breaks out of nowhere.

"There were a few texts flying about saying 'this will be the one he loses'. But it wasn't and that fired me up.

"Being world champion and world No 1 gave me a big lift as well. If there was any problem and I was under pressure I knew I could think 'I'm the word champion, I can get out of this'."

O'Sullivan, who pocketed a break of 135 in a 3-1 semi-final win over Peter Ebdon, was full of praise for Robertson but typically scathing of his own performance.

"He was so solid and so good, he deserved his victory," the 34-year-old said. "He despatched me like world champions and world number ones do. But I didn't put him under any pressure. I was trying to find something out there but I couldn't.

"I was hoping he wouldn't let me back on. I was thinking 'Please just clear the balls and get it over with'. But John Higgins playing at his best would have had his work cut out against Neil tonight."

The best-of-five format used all week proved popular with spectators. O'Sullivan and Robertson expressed their support for it and O'Sullivan said: "It's so much more exciting. It keeps everything fresh.

"They don't want to see me playing 11 frames - they have had their fix. It's like Wimbledon, two hours of intensity. They have got it right regardless of what the purists say."