Champion of Champions: Shaun Murphy beats Ronnie O'Sullivan in final

Shaun Murphy saw off a comeback from Ronnie O'Sullivan to win the Champion of Champions event in Coventry.

Trailing 9-5, O'Sullivan won three consecutive frames to reduce the deficit but Murphy, 35, took the 18th frame to win 10-8.

O'Sullivan looked set to force a decider but missed a green that would have levelled the scores at 9-9.

Murphy then cleared the remaining five colours to win his first title of the season and take the £100,000 prize.

Five-time world champion O'Sullivan had struggled in the early part of the evening session but improved, hitting the only century break of the match in the 16th frame.

In the end he suffered just a second defeat at the event he won in 2013 and 2014 and whacked his cue off the table in frustration as he missed the crucial green into the middle pocket.

"When the green didn't go in I was just so relieved," said Murphy, who had not won a match at the tournament in four previous attempts. "I had to stop myself shaking to clear the balls up.

"Ronnie is a player you don't want to run at you. I never saw a ball until the end.

"I thought it was going nine apiece. He is the best out there and it is a real honour to play against him and see where you are."

O'Sullivan said: "I just want to say well done to Shaun. In the last three frames I got rhythm and made a match of it but he deserved victory and played better today."

Sign up to My Sport to follow snooker news and reports on the BBC app.