All too easy for O'Sullivan as he clinches his third world snooker title

He was even upstaged briefly by a male streaker who had to be dragged out from under the snooker table and frogmarched away before the evening session allowed Ronnie O'Sullivan to clinch his title.

Scroll down for more

Sure, there were tantalising glimpses of the genius that saw him mentioned in the same breath as Picasso, Mozart, Tiger Woods et al in the wake of the exquisite destruction of Stephen Hendry.

And that was more than enough to sweep aside the challenge of surprise finalist Ali Carter 18-8 — like Mark Selby a year earlier, drained by the effort of reaching the biggest match of his career.

But here was the other O'Sullivan, the one who misses simple pots and gurns his way back to his seat, perplexingly unable to conjure his sublime game or his deepest concentration at key moments.

Even Picasso did not produce a masterpiece every time, of course, but this was more akin to painting by numbers as O'Sullivan exasperatingly delivered some of his worst snooker of the tournament.

He still pocketed £328,500 — first prize, plus a half-share of the £157,000 jackpot for a 147 that both he and Carter had achieved a week earlier — to take his season's earnings to a top-of-the-money-list £638,350.

He still became only the fourth player after Steve Davis, Hendry and Mark Williams to be world and UK champion and the world No.1 — returning to that pinnacle for a record third time, Muhammad Ali-style.

And he still, it should not be forgotten, dominated one of the more one-sided finals of recent years.

Yet, the manner of O'Sullivan's third world crown in eight years was ultimately disappointing. After the artistry against Hendry, the TV showcase cried out for a dazzling repeat show.

Maybe the very first shot of the day was an indicator. O'Sullivan is more than decent playing left-handed — he once beat Peter Ebdon in the Matchroom League on that basis — but his lefty break-off was dire.

The cue ball cannoned into the blue on the way back to baulk, but Carter could manage only 40. That was the second indicator; Carter was not able to take his chances when they were offered.

O'Sullivan then missed a simple red along the rail — another alarm signal for seasoned observers — before a 52 break tidied up the mess leaving Carter, 12-5 down, to dwell on a frame he should have won.

Carter knew he needed a quick frame to keep his spirits up and stop O'Sullivan getting away from him, but his poor safety could not hold off his opponent, whose breaks of 45 and 29 were enough to go 13-5.

The younger player looked all in as he sat in his seat. He had admitted to being 'mentally shattered' after an epic 17-15 semi-final win against the obstinate Joe Perry. He still seemed so.

But Carter rallied, as he had to. When his promising break faltered on 46 with a missed long red, the 19th frame turned scrappy but they are the ones where O'Sullivan is vulnerable. It went Carter's way.

That left the new world No 7 one more frame away from his immediate target, to force his first world final into a final session and avoid the embarrassment of heading for home while it was still light.

O'Sullivan seemed keen enough to finish as soon as he could and while both players missed worryingly straightforward pots in the next frame, the world No 1's 71 held sway for 85-0 and 14-6.

But Carter accomplished his initial mission in the next, rattling in the 84 that constituted the session's highest break, significantly lower than might be expected in a world final involving the game's best player.

O'Sullivan scraped the next, scrappy affair for 15-7, but Carter gave himself a sliver of hope for the evening by landing the next with a 71.

The last of the afternoon was most memorable for O'Sullivan's astonishing miss on a simple red, so poor it brought gasps, suggesting that his concentration had begun to wander.

Carter conceded the first frame of the night when he missed a tough snooker on the last red. And the second frame was the last, O'Sullivan's 28 for 62-16 brought down the curtain early. But not too soon.

Liang Wenbo, O'Sullivan's quarter-final victim, won the 888.com silver chip for the tournament's outstanding performance. The Chinese qualifier beat Ken Doherty and Joe Swail on his Crucible debut.