O'Sullivan beats Perry in final on World Seniors debut

Ronnie O'Sullivan capped his debut at the World Seniors Snooker Championship by beating Joe Perry in the final.

O'Sullivan, a seven-time winner of the main World Championship, confirmed before this year's tournament that he would make his seniors debut at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre.

The 50-year-old was knocked out of the second round of the World Championship by John Higgins but overcame Ken Doherty, Peter Lines and Robert Milkins to reach the seniors final.

And he completed a fine week by producing five century breaks in a 10-4 win over fellow Englishman Perry.

"I came out and just tried to play match snooker, try and use my brain, play the right shot a little bit because this afternoon I was going for a lot," O'Sullivan told Channel 5.

"I have not been playing great these three years, my confidence is quite low and when I was getting into little situations, I was missing a few, I am just thinking 'I never used to miss those balls'.

"But if I can get my confidence going then I would like to finish my career on a strong note, so that is my ambition left in the game."

O'Sullivan scored three centuries before being pegged back by Perry, 51, who cut his deficit to 5-3 heading into the evening session.

The current British Seniors Open champion, who retired from the professional game after last year's main World Championship, then claimed the first frame of the session to make it 5-4.

But the world number 14 regained his rhythm to cruise to victory, rattling off the next five frames and two more centuries.

Changes to seniors tournament rules mean players aged 45 or over who are ranked in the world's top 64 are now eligible to take part.