NORTH-EAST snooker star Gary Wilson claimed his third ranking title with a 9-4 victory over Martin O’Donnell in the final of the BetVictor Welsh Open.

Wilson made the only century of an otherwise error-strewn affair in the tenth frame on his way to securing the £80,000 first prize and Ray Reardon trophy in Llandudno.

The Wallsend-based 38-year-old, who made a 147 in his semi-final victory over John Higgins, also won the Scottish Open in December and joins Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump as the only players to win multiple ranking titles this season.

“What a mad few months I’ve had,” Wilson told Eurosport. “Having won the Scottish I feel like I belong in these types of situations but I never really expected another one to come so soon.

“I’m really happy with getting another one on the board. It wasn’t the best standard tonight but you’ve just got to battle on because you never know what’s around the corner.”

Wilson raced into a 4-0 lead as O’Donnell struggled to settle in his first ranking final, a situation perhaps exacerbated by play having to be suspended in the second frame due to a female spectator being taken ill.

A break of 66 after the interval helped O’Donnell get off the mark, but Wilson took the next two frames to lead 6-1 before a run of 92 from O’Donnell in the final frame of the session gave him a glimmer of hope.

O’Donnell also took a lengthy opening frame of the evening session but missed a simple red in the next and Wilson took full advantage with the first century of the contest.

The situation was reversed in the 11th frame as O’Donnell made a break of 85 to narrow the gap, but Wilson took a scrappy 12th frame on the colours and sealed a comprehensive win in the next.

O’Donnell, who beat World champion Luca Brecel in the quarter-finals and made a break of 126 in the deciding frame to beat Elliot Slessor in the last four, said: “It’s a bit disappointing.

“I’ve played some great snooker this week, some of my best, and to play like that and not really make it difficult for him is disappointing.

“I’ll learn from today, there’s good things coming for me so I’ll keep my chin up and hopefully be better next time.”