World News – GB – Brown beats O’Sullivan to win the Welsh Open

Jordan Brown won the 2021 Welsh Open after beating Ronnie O’Sullivan in Newport in a final-frame playoff

The final at Celtic Manor was a close affair, but it was Northern Ireland’s 33-year-old Brown who scored a 9-8 victory to contest 45-year-old O’Sullivan

Brown built a 5-3 lead in the afternoon to win the Ray Reardon trophy and the winner’s check for £ 70000 to get

“I knew if I was overwhelmed by Ronnie I wouldn’t win, so I focused on my own game,” said Brown

“I’ve always believed in myself, I’ve had some dark days, but these make you stronger as a player and as a person

“Five years ago I told myself to try snooker properly and it is now paying off”

He’s also the lowest ranked player to have won a ranked title since Dave Harold won the Asia Open in 1993

It’s been a story of hard work and determination for the world number 81 who was just a game off the tour a few months ago and was working at a gas station three years ago

He continued his remarkable form in the tournament by taking a 4-1 lead at Celtic Manor that afternoon

Brown, nicknamed “Antrim Ferrari”, ran out of the blocks in his first event final and won the first two frames

He looked relaxed and determined after taking an opening frame in which both players made mistakes

O’Sullivan made a 74 break to make it 2-1 in the third frame, but Brown responded with a 78 break and led 3-1 in the middle of the session

Brown won the fifth frame on a 107 break, but great snooker from O’Sullivan followed as he rolled the 135 and 121 breaks to win the sixth and seventh frames and the deficit increased to 4-3 reduce

However, the Northern Irishman claimed that frame number eight led 5-3 at the end of the afternoon session

O’Sullivan came out focused that evening and took the ninth frame to reduce the deficit

After a break of 68 minutes, he finished the match 5-5, then moved forward and took the next frame with a break of 61 after Brown missed a red in the center left

Frame 12 was a tense fight, but Brown held his nerve to pull back before the break between 6 and 6

A calm Brown used a frustrated O’Sullivan to break the 13th Frame to get, but the veteran Englishman responded with a posh break of 57 – including nine blues and one yellow – to end the match 7-7

O’Sullivan missed the pink with 25 points on the board to give Brown a chance to steal the next frame, which he did with a break of 56

However, the world champion fought back with a break of 116 to score 8-8 and force a final frame decider

Brown stayed cool within the crucial frame despite an early coincidence from O’Sullivan, who was crowned Welsh Open champion

“I hit the red in the last frame and I could see the disappointment in his eyes and that would have been a terrible way to win

“I played well and not many people beat me when I played well – but I couldn’t be happier for him”

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Jordan Brown Snooker, Ronnie O’sullivan, Jordan Brown