UK Championship 2023: Ronnie O'Sullivan claims record-extending eighth title

Ronnie O'Sullivan became the oldest-ever UK champion with a 10-7 victory over Ding Junhui as he claimed a record-extending eighth title in York.

O'Sullivan's triumph has come two days before he turns 48 and three decades on from being the youngest player to win the UK Championship, aged 17.

The match was delicately poised at 4-4 heading into Sunday's final session.

But O'Sullivan pulled clear with four half-centuries and two centuries to secure the £250,000 top prize.

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O'Sullivan's remarkable longevity at the top of the game means he eclipses Doug Mountjoy's long-standing mark from 1988, when he won his second UK title, aged 46, against Stephen Hendry.

"Each tournament I win and play in, I take great pleasure from," O'Sullivan told BBC Sport.

"I had to come out and have a good head. There was a big crowd and I wanted to leave blood, sweat and tears on the table. I came out and gave it my all and I love competing.

"I always keep beating myself up because of the age thing. I keep thinking at some point you have to stop winning but I am doing all right and I will keep on going until the wheels fall off."

O'Sullivan's latest landmark moment continues his remarkable success in snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, with his tally of trophies across the Masters, UK and World Championships now at 22, four clear of Scotland's Hendry.

The seven-time world champion, who holds almost every other major record in the game, has been selective about his appearances on the world tour this term, having won the non-ranking Shanghai Masters event in September.

However, his performances against Hossein Vafaei, Zhou Yuelong, Robert Milkins and Anthony McGill earlier in the tournament underlined his ability to deliver on the big occasion.

In Sunday's finale against Ding, he went from strength to strength to add a 40th ranking title to his collection, sealing the outcome with a sublime break of 129.

Ding displays fighting spirit

It is the second successive year that China's Ding has lost in the final by a three-frame margin, albeit this contest was markedly different to his painful defeat by Mark Allen 12 months ago, when he let a 6-1 lead slip.

The three-time winner, who says he loves playing at the Yorkshire venue, delivered a superb response to falling 3-0 down on Sunday afternoon with breaks of 89, a sublime 114 and 70 to draw level.

Those fighting qualities were initially on show in the evening, with Ding who had to come through qualifying after slipping just outside of the world's top 16 ranked players, punishing O'Sullivan's miss on a blue to the top-left pocket to get back to 5-5 with a break of 56 after the Englishman took the first frame of the evening with an 89.

A contribution of 52 and a fine 104 break, his second century of the contest, allowed him to restore parity again after O'Sullivan went 7-5 ahead with runs of 87 and 79.

But in the end he simply had no answer as O'Sullivan raced to the line with a 100, a 74 and the highest break of the final.

"It's been a very good week starting from the first match," said Ding.

"I know it was going to be very tough against Ronnie. I like myself playing like this. It is very cool."