He took the opening frame with a break of 84 and with Higgins resigned to his

He took the opening frame with a break of 84 and, with Higgins resigned to his fate, added two unremarkable frames to assure himself of pounds 135,000 with the prospect of increasing it pounds 230,000.Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan had adjourned for lunch at 12-12, their penultimate session having provided snooker fit for the gods. Hendry had opened with 104 to lead 10-7, but a brace of 30s quickly gave O’Sullivan one frame and a typically dashing 81 another.The six-times world champion is all too well aware that, at the age of 30, it is becoming more difficult to add that elusive seventh with the high standard of the top players. He made his only unforced error on 38 in the next frame, a routine black from its spot, and with 84 O’Sullivan was level at 10-10.For the first time in the tournament’s history, four centuries in four frames followed: 101 and 108 from Hendry, his 75th in 13 pilgrimages to the Crucible, 134 and 110 from O’Sullivan, to leave them level.When O’Sullivan failed on 105 at his 14th black during his 13-9 quarter- final win over John Parrott, he confessed to an odd thought: “It crossed my mind I’d rather win the tournament than make the 147.” But there was no such illogical pre-bargaining in his head as he ran to 134 before just over-cutting the tricky final pink, which had been displaced halfway from its spot towards the side cushion.There was no sign of disappointment at failing to enhance his bank balance by pounds 147,000 or not becoming the first to make two maximums at the Crucible. Only he, Cliff Thorburn, Hendry and Jimmy White have even made one. A long red from his first shot in the last frame of the morning put him in prime position at once and a virtuoso 110 provided the equaliser he needed..

QUITE WHERE a losers’ medal will rank in the honours list of Shaun Edwards is a matter of conjecture. His sock drawer is already overflowing with winners’ medals, from the Wigan hegemony, but the chance to add a 10th to his collection had proved an irresistible temptation. And for much of a sunlit afternoon at the final Silk Cut Challenge Cup final of the century – and the last at Wembley for the next three years – Edwards’ London Broncos fully justified their captain’s defiance of medical opinion. Steele Retchless, an emergency prop, had led the Broncos to Wembley. Yesterday, Steele was undone by Rivett, whose four tries constituted a record for the Challenge Cup and transformed a breathtaking match into a personal autographed page of the Boy’s Own Annual. The 52-16 final score pointed to a comprehensive victory by the northern giants and anyone turning on to witness the try blitz of the final 20 minutes might have wondered what Leeds had been doing for the previous 60.

Once ahead, Leeds were irresistible, producing a display of running rugby which has rarely been matched in the illustrious history of the tournament. Edwards could do little but watch the show.
A chorus of “Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner” seemed to baffle most of the crowd. The support for the newboy Broncos had been notable for its quality than quantity. “I can’t hear you” sang Bernard Cribbens to the Broncos fans, most of whom would have had a better working knowledge of byways of Brisbane than the streets of London.The ratio of yellow-and-blue to red-and-white jerseys accurately mirrored the length of rugby league tradition paraded by the two finalists. After 19 years, the Broncos are hardly fly-by-nights, but the contrast between the two entourages could not have been more indicative. At the head of the London side, the owner Richard Branson sported blue jeans and an open- neck shirt; Leeds were more soberly dressed as befits a day out in the capital.The most prominent northerner, though, wore the red of the Broncos and carried the most publicised thumb in league history.