The 42-year-old wrapped up a record-equalling sixth title at the York-based event with a 10-5 victory yesterday.

The win was made even more special to O’Sullivan as he got one over his arch-enemy who beat him in the Champion of Champions final last month.

O’Sullivan has a long-standing feud with Murphy and they have both clashed regularly over the five-time world champion’s outspoken behaviour.

And after his most recent win, O’Sullivan could not resist having a further dig at Murphy.

“It was a great occasion, all finals are,” O’Sullivan told Betway World Snooker.

”You have to play well to beat Shaun, he is a fantastic player and he is a danger in any tournament.

“Especially after he beat me in the Champions of Champions, I didn’t want to lose two on the bounce.

“Even though I have had a good season it was nice to get one back pretty soon. 

“It was nice.”

The two players were neck-and-neck after eight games with the scores tied at 4-4.

O’Sullivan revealed he managed to keep his composure to secure the win by not looking at the scoreboard.

“I played ok,” O’Sullivan added.

“I just tidied up every time that I got an opportunity.

“I didn’t really look at the scoreboard, I just tried to ignore what I was thinking in my head.

“I just wanted to play one ball at a time and just tried to stick as many balls together as I could.”