Fergal O'Brien captured the first professional title of his career in Plymouth last night with victory over stable-mate Anthony Hamilton in the British Open snooker final. O'Brien came from 2-0, 4-3 and later 7-6 down to win 9-7 as he picked up the trophy and a cheque for £60,000.

The additional bonus for him is a place in the world top 16 rankings for the first time as the circuit prepares to move on to Sheffield for the Embassy World Championship, which start next Saturday.

O'Brien knocked out the defending champion John Higgins in the last four and he followed that up with this historic win over Hamilton, who was also appearing in his first major final since joining the paid ranks.

Hamilton, the world number 11 from Nottingham, did not disgrace himself; in fact, he repeatedly outscored O'Brien but the Dubliner held his nerve when it mattered as he became only the third Republic of Ireland professional - after Ken Doherty and Patsy Fagan - to collect one of the game's major trophies.

Hamilton opened the match with back-to-back breaks of 110 and 134, while his third century of a high-quality contest - 121 - put him back in the driving seat at 7-6 in front with a possible four frames to play.

But it was O'Brien who finished on top, taking three frames without reply, including a break of 129 in the 15th frame.

The end for Hamilton came as he attempted to clear up to force a deciding frame. He missed the final blue into a middle pocket but seemed to have left the pink safe on a side cushion.

However, after potting a straight-forward blue, O'Brien doubled the pink into a middle bag and sank the black to succeed Higgins as champion.

While he remained calm, the moment of victory was too much for wife Jean, who broke down in tears as she sat alongside his dad Fergus and mum Joan.

Cradling his Cup, O'Brien said: "I'm not being arrogant when I say I'm really proud of myself for winning this tournament. The nerves were unbelievable and I dug so deep throughout the week.

"I was really worried at the mid-session interval - I was so tired and just wanted to go back to my hotel for a sleep.

"I thought there was an hour and a half break but in fact we only had 30 minutes before we went out to play again.

"I just kept my eyes closed because I was that tired and where I got the second wind from I don't know."

O'Brien was quick to praise the help of his family and supporters for seeing him to victory. "It does give you a bit of a lift when every time you come into the arena you keep hearing shouts of `Come on Fergie', he added.

"It would have been easy to jack it in but you can't do that when they have come over here to see you win."

Hamilton collects £32,000 as consolation to take his season's earnings into six figures for the first time since turning pro. He also moves up to number nine on the provisional rankings before the Crucible.

"It was a great buzz out there and that's what you play snooker for.

"I loved it, the extra nerves, that's what it's all about."