O'Sullivan limps ahead

LIMPING Ronnie O'Sullivan's injured foot did not prevent him from sprinting into the final of the Benson and Hedges Masters at Wembley yesterday. The defending champion took only 88 minutes to defeat Andy Hicks 6-1. His reward is a meeting in today's final with Stephen Hendry. Win or lose, the Scot's career earnings will go past the pounds 4.5m mark.

O'Sullivan, who suffered damaged ligaments in his right foot after kicking a concrete plant pot on Thursday, praised the medical help he had received at a private hospital near his Chigwell home. "I could not concentrate in the last round against Darren Morgan as the pain was so bad," O'Sullivan said. "But I cannot thank the people enough who worked on the foot for three or four hours yesterday. They used laser treatment and creams, and I could feel it getting better."

Hicks potted the opening red of the match. But he then watched O'Sullivan knock in breaks of 48, 35, 36 and 63 as he scored 189 points without reply on his way to a 2-0 lead.

O'Sullivan, 20, who is aiming to join Hendry and Cliff Thorburn as the only players to defend the Masters title successfully, also had a chance to steal the third frame. But he missed the brown to a baulk pocket, cheekily playing the shot left-handed. That mistake did not affect O'Sullivan's flow, however, anf he fired in a 70 break to go into the interval leading 3-1.

Things went from bad to worse for Hicks when play resumed. Early in the fifth frame he missed a pink and a red from short range before O'Sullivan went 4-1 ahead with a run of 52. The rout continued with a 59 break that took the score to 5-1. The match was soon over as another effort of 59 in the seventh frame enabled O'Sullivan to complete his sixth successive Wembley win.

"It's so disappointing to end up being beaten so heavily after a great week," Hicks said. "Ronnie was brilliant, but I played some diabolical shots."

In the second semi, Alan McManus took a two-frame lead before Hendry fought back, a 121 break giving him the third. The world champion then won the next two to haul himself into a 3-2 lead, the initiative careered back and forth, McManus pulling 4-3 ahead with successive breaks of 61 before Hendry rattled off the last three frames.