China's Ding Junhui won his third ranking title in Belfast

The 19-year-old led 5-3 after the first session but former world champion O'Sullivan levelled the scores at 6-6.

Ding was not to be denied and in the final three frames he conceded just 35 points to win the first ranking tournament of the 2006-07 season.

O'Sullivan made the highest break of the event with a 140 in the 11th frame.

Ding's victory saw him emulate the feats of O'Sullivan and John Higgins in winning three ranking titles before his 20th birthday.

His previous triumphs came last year at the China Open and the UK Championship.

FIVE LIVE VIEW If Ding keeps this up, there's no doubt he will achieve many great things DL Five Live: Have your say on snooker

"This match was more difficult for me than playing Steve Davis in the UK final," said Ding.

"I always felt under pressure and I had to play better than I did against Steve.

"It's a good start to the season and maybe, at the end of it, I might win the World Championship."

O'Sullivan, who is without a ranking title for over 18 months, was disappointed but not too downhearted by his defeat.

"I came here to enjoy my game and if I got beat it didn't matter. The important thing was to enjoy it and I did," he said.

"I made too many unforced errors and that was the difference between us. Ding didn't miss much and I did.

"There's no comparison between him and the other youngsters coming through. He has a natural gift and doesn't make any mistakes and that's why he is a winner."

Result

R O'Sullivan (Eng) 6-9 D Junhui (Chn)
90-14 (52) 0-80 (80) 115-0 (115) 89-31 (67) 0-104 (71) 4-96 (58) 0-103 (103) 0-85 (85) 73-24 (60) 14-72 140-0 (140) 99-20 (57) 0-99 (62) 27-63 8-83 (83)