Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Luca Brecel to win fourth consecutive Shanghai Masters title

O’Sullivan beat Luca Brecel 11-9 in a high-drama final to claim his fourth straight Shanghai Masters title.

The Englishman stormed into a late lead to see off his Belgian opponent as he won an 18th consecutive match in the Chinese city.

O’Sullivan took the first frame but Brecel came biting back in the second with a 134 break to level things up before the seven-time world champion opened up a 3-1 lead.

Brecel then gained momentum with three straight frames to take the lead but O’Sullivan again wrestled back the initiative with three frames of his own to go into the interval with a 6-4 lead.

After a positive restart from O’Sullivan, the stubborn Brecel began to mount a fightback and he managed to pull the tie back to 7-7.

O’Sullivan dominated the next frame to regain the lead before a 143 clearance saw the 47-year-old move into a two-frame advantage.

He followed that with an impressive 120 to move 10-7 ahead but Brecel made a double on the deciding black to cut the deficit to two.

The reigning world champion won the next to cause a tense finale, but O’Sullivan held his nerve to seal his fifth Shanghai title and fourth in a row.