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Figure after player's nation denotes 2001-02 World Snooker Ranking
REPORT
Victory for 26-year-old Englishman gives him the honor of being only the fifth player in snooker's history to win both the World and UK Championship titles – the two most important tournaments in the sport – in the same year and puts him in the exclusive company of Steve Davis OBE, Stephen Hendry MBE, John Parrott MBE and John Higgins. O’Sullivan put on a devastating production of long-potting and break-building that Doherty had no answer to on this occasion, to lay claim to the 11th ranking title of his nine-year professional career which boosted his prize money in career earnings alone past the three-million British pounds mark (around $4.35million). Victory in the UK Championship is his first title of the season and it was the first time this season he showed the courage and commitment he displayed last season which brought him six titles – he produced some fabulous snooker in particularly in the quarterfinals when he came back from 6-1 and 8-4 behind to defeat Peter Ebdon. With O’Sullivan competing at the top of his form and Doherty making a string of unforced errors and mistakes, it was a recipe for one of the most one-sided UK Championship finals after a tourmament of close matches and dramatic fightbacks. When Doherty leveled the match at 1-1 in the first session with a break of 95 after a tense 30-minute opening frame, a close exciting final was expected by all. However, Doherty's final would then start to come crashing down all around him after he missed a tricky red along the top cushion in the next frame which let O’Sullivan in for a quickfire 72 clearance. That frame became the catalyst for what was to be as O’Sullivan pocketed a great long red and a few minutes later it was all over with a break of 106, the 267th of his professional tournament career, to take a 3-1 lead going into the mid-session interval. The Irishman had to secure at least two of the session's remaining five frames if he was to have even the slightest hope of winning his first UK Championship titles once they resumed after the interval. Things though went from bad to worse in the fifth frame as after making a positive start he attempts the brown in the bottom-left hand pocket only to see it hit the jaws and bounce off the table, with O’Sullivan later going on to secure the frame with a break of 41 to the final pink. At this point O’Sullivan's confidence was sky-high and playing with the ability that has labeled him as the most naturally gifted player to have ever had picked up a snooker cue. Another blistering long red launched a break of 72 to make it 5-1, and he made it 6-1 when yet another blunder by Doherty forced O’Sullivan to pocket a remarkable free-ball blue off its spot the length of the table to clinch a frame-winning break of 62. Doherty had now only scored 22 points in the last five frames, and the demoralized Dubliner had a disastrous eighth frame in-keeping with the whole of the final. Desperation was creeping into his game and this was reflected in some of his shot selections in this frame which continued to give O’Sullivan chances which he took to go into a 7-1 lead. O’Sullivan opens the ninth frame with a break of 59 but leaves Doherty a glimmer of hope to get back into the frame as he left the black right over the top-right hand pocket. He gets in with a useful red but fails to pot the black over the pocket which looked impossible to miss – snooker is one of those sports that seems to reward a player in good form, and punish a player like Doherty who is not. That settled the outcome of that final frame of the first session and O’Sullivan took what was an unassailable 8-1 lead going into the final session. The 31-year-old former Embassy World Champion would now have had very little hope in making the scoreline respectable for a player of his stature, nevermind any hopes of winning the Championship. That little hope was totally justified as O’Sullivan just took 17 minutes of that second session with breaks of 66 and 58 in swiftly grabbing the two frames he required for a remarkable 10-1 victory. A victory that increases O’Sullivan's lead at the top of the provisional world rankings and on this form who would doubt that he is not the best player in world. "I'm very proud to be ranked alongside the likes of Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry," O’Sullivan remarked about completing the World and UK Championship double. "When I finish playing snooker and I sit down with my grandchildren, I can say ‘what do you think about that?’ It’s a fantastic achievement to win both in the same year." "Winning at Sheffield took a huge weight off my shoulders and gave me a lot of confidence – after that I felt like anything else would be a bonus. "Some players say that once you win the World Championship, the feeling is difficult to live up to. But for me, it has meant the opposite – I enjoy playing the game a lot more now. "I didn't really feel like I was going to win the tournament all week – at least not until I was 8-1 up tonight. I kept fearing the worst and expecting someone to beat me. I had to battle very hard, especially against Peter Ebdon and Mark Williams. "The final was strange – a bit of an anticlimax in a way because I was expecting a tough game. Ken didn't get going which baffled me a bit because he is such a dangerous player. I was really pushing myself in the first session but I feel for Ken – he just wasn't seeing the ball today. "I think I take a bit of credit for that because I wasn't giving him chances. I was trying to be as ruthless as possible – I know the crowd want to see me go for every shot but I was here to win the tournament. "My long-potting was excellent and my scoring and safety were pretty good, although I never felt that I was in peak form. I was making 50 and 60 breaks which is usually enough, but I really wanted to finish with a century in the last frame." O’Sullivan, who won around another $14,500 for the tournament's highest break of 142 against Mark J. Williams in their semifinal encounter, paid tribute to coach and mentor Derek (Del) Hill, with whom he has recently reunited after a split earlier in the season. "I have known Del for a long time and he knows me better than anyone. He has confidence in me when I don't have it in myself and that has been really important this week. He has turned me into a winner. "I'll be around for another ten years and if I can keep myself in good nick then I can win a few more." It was Doherty's last tournament as a bachelor as he marries his Australian fiancée Sarah Prasad in Melbourne on December 28, so he can certainly console himself with that thought and with a runner's-up check for around $78,000 – which should at least pay for the wedding and honeymoon! He was however naturally disappointed with his way below par performance. "It's a bit embarrassing to lose 10-1 but there are worse things in life. than losing a snooker match," he said. I lost a few tight frames in the first session which was crucial as Ronnie was able to just pull away. There were a lot of frames where I didn't even get a look in. "On that form, I don't think anyone could have beaten Ronnie. You miss one ball and the frame is over. You've got to get on top of him and put him under pressure and I didn’t do that. "It didn’t happen for me today but sometimes sport is like that. It’s better to lose in the final than in the first round and I will look at the positives of the tournament. "I'm looking forward to getting to Australia and having a few barbeques on the beach. Then I will be walking down the isle which will be the happiest day of my life. "I will come back in the new year and look forward to the rest of the season." Everyone at the United States Snooker Association would like to send out our best wishes and congratualations to Ken and Sarah on their wedding day. For previous round results and tournament preview please click here.
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'A fantastic achievement'