Ronnie beat Mark Allen by 10-6 to win his seventh UK Championship, setting a new record. Steve Davis with six, is now second. This win also brings his tally of “Triple Crowns” to a record of nineteen, one better than Stephen Hendry.

This is the first time that a player defends the UK Championship crown since Stephen Hendry in 1996, and for this to be achieved 25 years after winning his first UK title, at only 17, is an extraordinary achievement.

Ronnie was clearly delighted and a bit emotional whilst being interviewed by Hazel Irvine and celebrating with the fans. Great to see!

Congratulations Ronnie, this was superb!

Here is the report on Worldsnooker:

Sunday 9 Dec 2018 10:41PM

Ronnie O’Sullivan won a record seventh Betway UK Championship title – and a 19th Triple Crown victory in all – by beating Mark Allen 10-6 in the final.

O’Sullivan outplayed his opponent to take the £170,000 top prize in York, coming from 2-1 down to win nine of the last 13 frames, scoring a century and seven more breaks over 50.

After receiving the trophy O’Sullivan jumped on to the barriers around the table to hold it aloft in celebration, then climbed, Pat Cash-style, into the crowd to share the moment with friends and fans. It was a rare show of emotion which revealed just how much these landmark achievements mean to him.

It was 1993 when O’Sullivan lifted the UK trophy at the age of just 17, beating Stephen Hendry in the final. A quarter of a century later he has surpassed several of Hendry’s records and, now 43, year by year he continues to strengthen the argument of those who claim that he is snooker’s greatest ever player.

Rocket’s Records
Seven UK Championship titles (ahead of Steve Davis’ six)
19 Triple Crown victories (ahead of Hendry’s 18)
986 centuries (ahead of Hendry’s 775)
15 maximum breaks (ahead of Hendry’s 11)
Seven Masters titles (ahead of Hendry’s six)

…and those he is still chasing
Hendry’s seven World Championship titles (O’Sullivan has five)
Hendry’s 36 ranking titles (O’Sullivan has 34)

O’Sullivan has dominated the Betway UK Championship more than any other event in recent years, capturing the title in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Losing to Mark Selby in the 2016 final was his only defeat among his last 28 matches in York. His previous UK crowns came in 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2007.

And the Chigwell cueman has made a tremendous start to the current season, adding this title to the Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions. In the five tournaments he has contested, he has won 26 out of 28 matches and earned £531,000.

Allen missed out on his second Triple Crown title having landed his first at the Masters in January. Still, 2018 has been by far the best year of his career as he also won his fourth ranking title at the International Championship last month. Tonight’s runner-up prize of £75,000 moves the 32-year-old Northern Irishman up to sixth in the world rankings, equalling his career best.

Leading 6-2 after the first session, world number three O’Sullivan extended his lead in a tense opening frame tonight, sealing it by potting the penultimate red with the rest to a top corner. Allen pulled one back with runs of 56 and 37 to make it 7-3.

O’Sullivan made 30 in the next before missing a red to a top corner, and after a safety exchange Allen converted a difficult three-ball plant to set up a run of 105 and close the gap again. But frame 12 went O’Sullivan’s way as breaks of 46 and 41 put him 8-4 up at the interval.

Allen led 59-6 in frame 13 but could only watch as his opponent made a brilliant 57 clearance to go five up with six to play. In the 14th Allen potted nine reds with blacks, but then on 72 missed a red to a centre pocket when the balls had looked well placed for a 147.

O’Sullivan missed a red to a centre pocket early in frame 15 and Allen made breaks of 59 and 30 as he raised his chances of a fight back by closing to 9-6. But O’Sullivan quashed his hopes in the 16th with a match-winning break of 78.

“It was a pleasure to be a part of that final, and if I had lost I would have been devastated,” said O’Sullivan. “It’s about cherishing these moments and enjoying them. Mark is a fantastic competitor, he has got great bottle and courage and I think he’ll win the world title. He has that ingredient and you need that at Sheffield.

“To beat Hendry’s 18 majors, to get to 19 is crazy. I don’t want to stop there, I want to put some distance between me and the next players to make it harder for them to catch me.

“I was emotional at the end because I’m playing for the fans and I want to give them enough to smile about. It’s pay back time, I owe it to them. I have a special rapport with them, I’m the people’s player and I understand that. They go through it with me, when I get victories they feel it with me.

“As long as I am healthy and fit I think I have another ten years of entertaining. I will always play snooker, that’s a given. I’ll always find a platform, it has to happen. I’m really looking forward to the future, it’s exciting.”

Allen said: “Hats off to Ronnie, he played awesome. It was fine margins, I was a little flick here and there from being a lot closer. I didn’t feel I’d done much wrong in the first session but got punished and was 6-2 down. His long game was devastating. It’s up to me to go away, keep practising and try to get closer to Ronnie’s level because he is a long way ahead of everyone else.

“Even at 9-4 I was still positive, then at 9-6 I fancied it. I hung in there but it was too much to do. I hate losing, I’ll never be happy with second, but I’ve had a really good year. I’ll keep working hard and hope to have an even better 2019. I’m looking forward to the Masters now and the chance to defend the title.

“At the end I gave Ronnie massive congratulations for making history. I don’t think there’s any question now that he’s the greatest ever.”

And on the BBC website:

UK Championship: Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Mark Allen to win seventh title

By Shamoon Hafez

BBC Sport at the York Barbican

Ronnie O’Sullivan won the UK Championship for a record seventh time by outclassing Mark Allen 10-6 in York.

O’Sullivan retained his title to move to 19 World, UK and Masters trophies – surpassing Stephen Hendry’s record in the ‘Triple Crown’ events.

A run of six frames in a row allowed the Englishman to dominate the final.

Northern Ireland’s Allen rallied to trail 9-6, but O’Sullivan closed out the match with a break of 78 to collect the trophy and the £170,000 top prize.

• I don’t want to stop now – O’Sullivan

Five-time world champion O’Sullivan sat out the 2015 event, but has dominated at the Barbican in recent years, claiming three titles since 2014.

He has now won a remarkable 27 of his 28 matches here since 2014, the only blemish being his 2016 final loss against Mark Selby.

O’Sullivan was tied with Steve Davis on six tournament victories but this win – 25 years after his first triumph – takes him past his fellow Englishman.

‘The Rocket’ celebrated by tipping a bottle of water over his head and jumped into the crowd after being presented with the trophy.

“History is fantastic,” O’Sullivan told BBC Sport. “It’s amazing, I can’t believe it.

“I played very well, but I still had to convince myself because that is how hard it felt. It’s great to create history, great to beat Steve Davis’ record.

“It’s amazing to beat my hero Stephen Hendry’s record. He was the ultimate player. I’ve still got eight world titles to get, so I’m chasing that one.”

O’Sullivan continues to rule

Despite turning 43 during the tournament, world number three O’Sullivan looks to be improving with age and is the most feared, most consistent and most successful player on tour by a distance.

He has been vocal regarding the amount of travelling players have to do for events across Britain, Europe and Asia, and has spoken about wanting to form a breakaway tour in order to continue competing. This was just his third out of a possible nine ranking events this season.

His record, though, is superb – winning here, reaching the final of the Northern Ireland Open and semi-finals of the English Open.

His triumph at the invitational Shanghai Masters in September made him the first snooker player to pass £10m in prize money and he also won the aptly named Champion of Champions event in Coventry.

His first victory in the UK Championship, aged 17, made him the youngest winner of a ranking event – a record which still stands – and he has further landmarks in his sight.

O’Sullivan is now just two ranking titles short of Hendry’s overall record of 36, and the 101 break he made in the second frame was the 986th century of his career, 14 short of the 1,000 mark, which no player has achieved before.

Despite his advancing years, he will also close further on Selby’s world number one ranking with a deep run at the Scottish Open which begins on Monday, and will chase an eighth Masters title at Alexandra Palace next month.

Allen unable to come up with the goods

World number seven Allen came into the tournament in good form after winning the International Championship last month, and defeated former world champions Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham en route to the final.

But he has now lost two finals in York, the first to Judd Trump in 2011, and Northern Ireland’s long wait for a first UK champion since Alex Higgins in 1983 goes on.

Masters champion Allen was not at his best in the tournament, and loose safety play and missed opportunities were heavily punished by his final opponent.

“Ronnie played awesome, particularly in the first session,” said Allen. “I did not feel like I did that much wrong. I got punished and fell 6-2 behind and his long game was devastating, so was his safety.

“It is up to me to go away, practise and try and get closer to Ronnie’s level. He is by far and away ahead of everyone else.

“I still fancied it at 9-6, even though you are relying on him to make mistakes. I was never giving up.

“I hate losing and I will never be happy with second but there are lots to be positive about.”

The story of the match

The pair shared the first four frames in rapid fashion, O’Sullivan making breaks of 101 and 85, while Allen stroked in a 74.

But ‘The Rocket’ took control with further breaks of 66, 57 and 65 as he won five frames in a row.

O’Sullivan started the evening session by pinching a scrappy ninth frame, though Allen stopped his opponent’s run of frames with breaks of 56 and 105.

However, O’Sullivan snatched a 23-minute tactical battle to go two from victory.

There looked to be no way back when Allen broke down on 45 with O’Sullivan compiling a cool 57 clearance in response.

Allen missed the 10th red when on for a maximum 147 break but won the 14th frame and pulled another back before O’Sullivan crossed the line with a 78 break.

Celebration!

images shared on social media and by Worldsnooker

And these great ones are from Tai Chengzhe. Thank you Tai!

Coverage

The match (full BBC coverage)

First session

ES Preview

ES MSI analysis

ES Review

Second session

ES Preview

ES MSI Analysis

ES Review

Interviews

Highs and lows of the Championship

What a match! What an achievement!

This win places Ronnie in second place on the one year list, a certainty for the first ITV event, the Grand Prix, and for the second one the Players Championship most probably as well. And he’s well placed for the third one too!

Now it’s onto Glasgow for the Scottish Open. I don’t expect miracles from Ronnie there… this one must have taken a lot out of him, mentally and emotionally, but hey, lets just enjoy the moment!