Sport

O'Sullivan retains world snooker title

17:17 pm on 7 May 2013

Ronnie O'Sullivan has retained snooker's World Championship with an 18-12 win over fellow-Englishman Barry Hawkins at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre.

O'Sullivan's victory means he becomes the first player to mount a successful title defence since Stephen Hendry in 1996 and gave the 37-year-old his fifth world championship.

His latest World Championship was all the more impressive as O'Sullivan had effectively taken a year out from the sport since his 2012 Crucible triumph.