Media playback is not supported on this device O'Sullivan wins record seventh UK title to make history - best shots

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.

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."

Media playback is not supported on this device The greatest ever - the life and times of Ronnie O'Sullivan

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.

O'Sullivan's 2018-2019 season 10-16 September: Shanghai Masters - Won 15-21 October: English Open - Semi-finals 5-11 November: Champion of Champions - Won 12-18 November: Northern Ireland Open - Runner-up 27 November-9 December: UK Championship - Won

Still the mean to beat - analysis

Former world champion John Parrott: Every time he looked like being challenged O'Sullivan pulled away again. He's a snooker player for all ages.

I never thought we'd be seeing him like this when he was 17 years old winning his first UK Championship, but here he is 25 years later and still the man to beat after all these years.</s>For a record seventh time in his career, Ronnie O’Sullivan won the UK Championship in York on Sunday.

Ronnie O’Sullivan claimed a record seventh UK Championship in York on Sunday with a 10-6 victory over Mark Allen.

O’Sullivan reeled off six successive frames to take control of the final, and although Allen battled valiantly he could not stop the Englishman defending his title.

Victory moves O’Sullivan to 19 World, UK and Masters trophies in his career, moving him past Stephen Hendry for ‘Triple Crown’ events.

A break of 78 sealed the title for O’Sullivan, who will now have his sights set on reaching 1,000 career century-breaks, the 43-year-old having moved to 986 with a 101 in frame two.</s>Ronnie O’Sullivan claimed a record-breaking seventh UK Championship title with a 10-6 victory over Mark Allen at the York Barbican on Sunday.

His triumph, which came a quarter of a century after he won his first United Kingdom crown as a 17-year-old, also saw O’Sullivan nudge ahead of Stephen Hendry with 19 ‘triple crown’ titles – comprising the World and UK Championships and the Masters.

The 43-year-old reeled off six consecutive frames to establish a four-frame advantage at the interval and despite a brief rally by his opponent he wrapped up victory with a break of 78.

It capped a tumultuous tournament for O’Sullivan, who had threatened to launch a breakaway tour then required a final-frame decider to edge past veteran Ken Doherty in round two.

But O’Sullivan was in imperious form against Allen, who was looking to add a second major title to the Masters he won in January, yet had expressed dissatisfaction with his performances all week.

The Northern Irishman took a scrappy opener then moved ahead again with a break of 74 after O’Sullivan had eased level with a break of 101 in the second frame of the match.

But then it was all O’Sullivan, as he proceeded to punish a series of costly errors by Allen and reel off six frames in succession.

A superb long red set O’Sullivan up to draw level again with a break of 85, and he went ahead with two 50-plus breaks in the next after Allen had missed a black off its spot.

A loose safely let O’Sullivan in to make it 4-2 with a break of 57, a brilliant long blue paved the way to extend his lead to three frames, and when Allen missed an easy red in a potentially pivotal eighth, there seemed no way back. Ronnie O’Sullivan has now won more UK titles than Steve Davis (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)

It was business as usual at the start of the evening session as O’Sullivan took the first frame with ease to move into a 7-2 advantage, although Allen responded well to stop his opponent’s streak at six.

Allen’s first century of the match reduced the deficit to 7-4 but O’Sullivan took the next two frames, including a brilliant clearance of 63 to extinguished his opponent’s 59-point advantage, to move within one frame of victory.

There was almost a remarkable twist as Allen responded with nine reds and nine blacks to threaten a 147 in the next, and despite stalling on 72 he followed up with 59 to pull back to 9-6 before O’Sullivan finished in style.</s>Ronnie O’Sullivan claimed a record-breaking seventh UK Championship title with a 10-6 victory over Mark Allen at the York Barbican last night.

His triumph, which came a quarter of a century after he won his first United Kingdom crown as a 17-year-old, also saw O’Sullivan nudge ahead of Stephen Hendry with 19 ‘triple crown’ titles – comprising the World and UK Championships and the Masters.

The 43-year-old reeled off six consecutive frames to establish a four-frame advantage at the interval and despite a brief rally by his opponent he wrapped up victory with a break of 78.

It capped a tumultuous tournament for O’Sullivan, who had threatened to launch a breakaway tour then required a final-frame decider to edge past veteran Ken Doherty in round two.

But O’Sullivan was in imperious form against Allen, who was looking to add a second major title to the Masters he won in January, yet had expressed dissatisfaction with his performances all week.

The Northern Irishman took a scrappy opener then moved ahead again with a break of 74 after O’Sullivan had eased level with a break of 101 in the second frame of the match.</s>RONNIE O’SULLIVAN produced an incredible long pot in his UK Championship snooker final win against Mark Allen.

Ronnie O’Sullivan secured his record-breaking seventh title at York’s Barbican Centre yesterday in his 10-6 masterclass against Allen. The result meant The Rocket moved to 19 World, UK and Masters trophies – surpassing Stephen Hendry’s record in the “Triple Crown” events. And he did it in some style. Footage from the fifth frame shows O’Sullivan lining up a tricky long shot on the red.

The target ball was lying to the left of the far pocket, sitting tantalisingly close to the cushion. It meant the 42-year-old needed to hit it in precisely the right place to get it into the pocket without rebounding off the cushion. But O’Sullivan managed it with ease. As the red sailed into the bottom right pocket, the commentator exclaimed: “That is fantastic, it really is.

“It’s not only the pot, it’s the control of the cue ball.” More than 6,500 people have seen the video since it was posted to World Snooker’s Twitter page. “Marvellous control of the cue ball,” one wrote. Another commented: “The best in the world.”</s>Ronnie O'Sullivan brilliantly ripped up the snooker history books in York on Sunday night.

A rampant Rocket made it a record 19 successes in snooker's three major tournaments by being the first to win a seventh Betway UK Championship title.

O'Sullivan, 43, stormed to a 10-6 win over reigning Masters champion Mark Allen at the Barbican Centre to continue a blistering campaign.

The world No 3 is at war with supremo Barry Hearn over formats and venues on tour - and last week even threatened he could stage breakaway 'Champions League' events. That triggered a furious response from Hearn, who branded his box office talisman 'pathetic, ridiculous and selfish'.

But on the table O'Sullivan, who pocketed £170,000 on Sunday, has won three of the five events he has played this season - and also reached a final and a semi-final.

A limited schedule is working, and O'Sullivan has now edged ahead of boyhood idol Steve Davis on UK wins - and has 19 Triple Crown triumphs, one clear of long-time rival Stephen Hendry.

O'Sullivan celebrated by tipping a glass of water over his head. He said: 'History is fantastic. It's amazing.

'It is great to beat the Nugget, Steve Davis', record of six UK titles, and to beat my hero Stephen Hendry's record of 18 Triple Crown titles.

'To be involved in a final against Mark, who is an unbelievable competitor... if he doesn't win the worlds, I will be surprised. He has talent and bottle in abundance.

'It's great to create history and beat Stephen's records. I still have eight world titles to get.

'My strike average is better than other sportsmen. Roger Federer and Tiger Woods have four majors to go at. I only have three!

'I want to support the fans. I will play with a smile on my face.

'I don't set myself limits. I will play as many tournaments as I can. I want to compete and enjoy it.'

Allen, 32, who earns £75,000, said: 'I am a part of history I didn't really want. You have to appreciate what Ronnie does.

'To beat the records of Davis and Hendry means he is something special. Hopefully he p***** off on this breakaway tour!

'I felt alright earlier, but there are extremely fine margins. Playing Ronnie is the ultimate examination of your abilities.'

O'Sullivan's big breakthrough came at the UK in 1993 at the age of 17 years and 358 days - and this marked the perfect 25th year anniversary.

Hendry, another strong candidate in a small field for best player of all-time, won his 18 majors in 11 years - less than half the time.

And he still holds two huge records - the mark of seven world titles at the Crucible, and 36 ranking titles with O'Sullivan now just two adrift of that one on 34.

O'Sullivan, watched by artist pal Damien Hirst on Sunday, values style as well as trophies.

His tennis hero Roger Federer has won 20 slams, while the Rocket's golf idol Tiger Woods is back on 14 majors.

Allen, 32, could take consolation from his £75,000 runners-up prize, equalling his career-high ranking of No 6, and a superb 2018 that saw him also win the International Championship in China.

But it was a second loss in the UK final having gone down to Judd Trump back in 2011.

Allen, who trailed 7-2, trimmed the deficit with breaks of 56 and 105, but O'Sullivan cleared up from 59-6 down in frame 13 and soon closed out the contest.

Meanwhile the draw for January's Dafabet Masters, the next Triple Crown tournament on the calendar, was made in York on Sunday night.

Seven-time Masters champion O'Sullivan will play former world champion Stuart Bingham in the first round.

And defending champion Allen could have been handed a far tougher test than an out-of-form Belgian Luca Brecel.</s>Has there ever been a more...apathetic is the wrong word, but ever been a champion sportsperson who gives the outward impression that they could take or leave being a champion, more than Ronnie O’Sullivan. Upon being asked how great it would be to surpass Steve Davis’s mark if six UK Championships, O’Sullivan noted that he would be “over the moon”, but also that if he didn’t get it done this year, then there’s always next year.

It will take quite the comeback from Mark Allen to make him wait 12 months: O’Sullivan goes into this evening session requiring four of the potential 11 frames to retain the title and bring his personal collection to seven. In a sense, it’s probably this sort of match that has led to O’Sullivan’s on again, off again relationship with snooker: he’s on his way to winning the second-most prestigious title in the game, and he’s barely broken metaphorical sweat.

Still, if Allen takes a few early frames we could be in for a longer evening. Stick around to find out.</s>UK CHAMPIONSHIP SNOOKER: How much will the winner of tonight's Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Mark Allen final land?

O'Sullivan is the defending champion at the York Barbican and is the big favourite for victory. He's breezed through to the final when he faces Northern Ireland potter Mark Allen. The final is played over two sessions and is a best of 19 frames contest. And on offer is a whopping cheque for the winner.

How much does the UK Championship snooker winner make? O'Sullivan or Allen will take home a mega £170,000 for winning the tournament. For The Rocket, a victory will edge him ahead of Stephen Hendry's 18 Triple Crown wins. The two are currently tied on the same amount, but a win for O'Sullivan will put him as the standalone leader on 19.

“It would be great to win a seventh title here, it would be special. “If it doesn’t happen then I’ve always got next year or the year after. I’ve still got plenty of time. “It would be great to beat Hendry’s Major record. But if I beat that then everyone will be going on about Hendry’s World Championship record so it never ends. “It’s not my main goal. My main goal is to be in a great match. Snooker will always be the winner. I’m proud that I’m still playing and still competing in big events after all these years.”

O’Sullivan has amazingly lost just one match the last four times he’s entered the event – the 2016 UK Final to world No.1 Mark Selby. And that record looks like continuing - with his opponent Allen claiming he's 'not playing well' despite reaching the final. BBC pundit Stephen Hendry said: "Mark said to us last night that he thinks he is playing rubbish. "If he was playing confident and well, the fact he has had long matches wouldn't matter. The fact that he isn't 100% confident in his game, together with having tough matches, might be starting to take it's toll."</s>Ronnie O’Sullivan ripped up snooker’s record books last night after winning the Betway UK Championship.

In the week the five-time world champion suggested a Champions League-style breakaway snooker tour, O’Sullivan proved to be in a league of his own with a stunning 10-6 win over Masters champion Mark Allen.

Not only did the 43-year-old’s victory at the York Barbican complete the ‘Magnificent Seven’ – breaking Steve Davis’s previous record of six UK victories – but he also surpassed Stephen Hendry’s record haul of 18 Triple Crown trophies.

Last night’s win – coming 25 years since the then 17-year-old Chigwell potter first claimed his opening UK title – also saw O’Sullivan pocket £170,000 to swell his prize money earnings to over £500,000 from just five tournaments this season.

World Snooker chief Barry Hearn claims no individual is bigger than the sport, but O’Sullivan – who has already claimed Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions trophies this season – comes as close to that distinction as is humanly possible.

At 43 he is still pure box office, snooker’s poster boy, and it seems only a matter of time before O’Sullivan wins another three ranking titles to break Hendry’s record haul of 36.

Victory yesterday was never in doubt, after he reeled off six successive frames to come from 2-1 behind to lead 7-2.

Northern Ireland’s Allen was never likely to roll over and make it a formality, but O’Sullivan was not to be denied as he celebrated victory with a huge fist-pump to the packed Barbican crowd.

He said: “(To create) history is amazing, I can’t beleve it.

“It’s great to create history, great to beat the Nugget’s record, amazing to beat my hero’s record – Stephen Hendry, who was the ultimate player – but I have still got eight world titles to get, I will be chasing that.”

Yesterday afternoon’s opening exchanges were of the highest quality. Allen nudged into a 2-1 advantage before being swept aside as O’Sullivan reeled off the next five frames to take a 6-2 lead into last night’s final session in their best-of-19 contest.

The first frame saw O’Sullivan take the advantage, but Allen – in his second UK final, after losing to Judd Trump in 2011 – engineered a snooker on the final red to pinch the frame.

If that was a chance for both players to sound each other out, they came out punching with some quickfire punches to head into the mid-session interval locked at 2-2.

O’Sullivan knocked in a 101 break – his 986th career century – Allen responded with 74. before his opponent rallied with an 85.

All three breaks were founded on glorious long-range opening reds, warmly applauded by the sell-out York crowd.

Tickets for next year’s tournament had gone on sale hours earlier, but those inside the Barbican were witnessing pure snooker magic.

World No 7 Allen produced a rare mistake, missing the black off its spot when attempting to open up the pack of reds.

The only surprise was that O’Sullivan needed two attempts to win the frame, following up an opening 54 with a 66 clearance.

The defending champion’s 57 break, after some tactical jousting, made it 4-2, and after O’Sullivan opened with a 49 break in the next frame, Allen missed a pink to the centre pocket to fall three frames behind.

Both players had chances in the final frame of the afternoon session – the difference between trailing 5-3 and 6-2 a huge psychological swing – but were guilty of leaving reds hanging over the pocket. But it was O’Sullivan who showed his composure to take a 6-2 lead into the evening after a 65 break.

It was a daunting proposition facing Allen, against a player who has cruised through a favourable draw in York. Apart from a narrow 6-5 second-round win over veteran Ken Doherty, world No 3 O’Sullivan has lost just four frames in fives matches.

He whitewashed Zhou Yuelong 6-0, and triumphed 6-1 against Luke Simmonds, Jack Lisowski, Martin O’Donnell and Tom Ford.

Allen, in comparison, had a much tougher route to the final, the 32-year-old having to overcome former world champions Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham, as well as world No 15 Stephen Maguire.

O’Sullivan made it six successive frames on their return to the Barbican arena last night, before Allen showed his fighting spirit.

A 56 break was quickly followed by a 105 clearance –sparked by an astonishing three-ball plant on a red – to cut the deficit to 7-4.

But O’Sullivan held his nerve with a 46 break to restore the four-frame cushion, before the mid-session interval.

Allen was first in the points on their return, with a 45 break, but O’Sullivan cleared the table with a 57-point haul – including a stunning pink to the corner – to snatch the frame and pull away to 9-4.

The chance of a maximum 147 was a real possiblilty for the Irishman after nine blacks, but Allen missed the 10th red, although breaks of 72, 68 and 59 helped him win back-to-back frames but it was only delaying the inevitable.

O’Sullivan got in first in frame 16 with a long red, and he fired in a 78 break to confirm a 10-6 win and his place in snooker history.</s>Ronnie O'Sullivan vowed to continue making snooker history after becoming the first player to win seven UK Championship titles with a 10-6 victory over Mark Allen in York.

O'Sullivan's triumph saw him surpass the previous record he shared with Steve Davis, as well as edging past Stephen Hendry to win a 19th 'triple crown' title - comprising the World and UK Championship and the Masters.

O'Sullivan said: "It's great to make history. To beat Davis's record and to beat Stephen Hendry, who is my hero and the ultimate player, is just crazy.

"I never thought I would be chasing these kinds of records. I just want to get my head down and play but I don't want to stop there - I want to put in some distance and make it harder for the next guy to overtake me."

O'Sullivan's triumph, which came a quarter of a century after he first won the title as a 17-year-old, crowned a tumultuous week in which he threatened to launch a breakaway tour and needed a final frame decider to nudge past Ken Doherty in round two.

There were no such fears on Sunday as O'Sullivan reeled off six consecutive frames to turn an early 2-1 deficit to the reigning Masters champion into a 7-2 lead.

After years of threatening to walk away from the sport, O'Sullivan, who celebrated his 43rd birthday in the middle of the tournament, now appears thoroughly intent on committing himself to his sport for the long-term.

He added: "I was playing for the fans today. It's payback time - they have supported me for so long and they go through it all with me so I just need to play with a smile on my face.

"I am not setting myself any limits. I will play as many tournaments as I think I can play, whether they are big or small. It's just about playing and trying to enjoy it, because it's a fantastic sport."

Allen had made a promising start to the match, sandwiching a 101 from O'Sullivan in the second frame, but he was ultimately cast adrift by the favourite's six-frame burst heading into the evening session.

The Northern Irishman rallied well, winning two consecutive frames including a first century of his own to pull back to 7-4, but O'Sullivan took the next two, including a brilliant clearance of 63 to move within one frame of victory.

The mutual respect between the pair at the end was obvious, with O'Sullivan tipping Allen to go on to end his long search for a world title, while Allen described his opponent as the best player of all time.

"I congratulated him at the end, not just for the win but for making history," said Allen. "To beat Steve Davis's record and to beat Stephen Hendry's 19 shows where Ronnie is and there's no question in my mind he's the greatest ever.

"I didn't feel like I did much wrong but I got really punished for it. That's the fine margins and Ronnie's game was really devastating in that first session.

"That's why you play the game, and it's up to me to go away and try to get closer to Ronnie's level but at the moment he's by far and away better than everyone else."

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Ronnie O'Sullivan wins a record seventh UK Championship snooker title after defeating Mark Allen 10–6 in the final at the Barbican Centre, York.