Ronnie O’Sullivan: A look at his UK record
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Ronnie O’Sullivan is now snooker’s oldest UK champion as well as the youngest after winning his eighth title on Sunday night.
O’Sullivan repelled the determined challenge of Ding Junhui to triumph in the UK Snooker Championship in York, 30 years after he claimed his first title at the tournament at the age of 17.
‘The Rocket’, who turns 48 on Tuesday, triumphed 10-7 after a heavyweight battle with his Chinese opponent, sealing a record-extending eighth UK crown with an exhibition-style finish of 129 amid raucous scenes at the Barbican.
Here we take a look at his record in the event plus the latest Ronnie O’Sullivan odds.
Decades of dominance
O’Sullivan won his first UK title in 1993 aged 17, breaking opponent Stephen Hendry’s record as the event’s youngest winner.
His victory over Ding three decades on – and two days shy of his 48th birthday – sees him also push Doug Mountjoy out of the record books as the oldest champion.
O’Sullivan was also victorious in 1997, 2001, 2007, 2014 and back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, the first man to successfully defend the UK crown since 1996 when Hendry won his third straight title.
He has extended his own record to eight UK titles, with Steve Davis winning six and Hendry five.
Triple crown record
O’Sullivan also already held the record for the most titles in snooker’s ‘triple crown’ events – the World and UK Championships and the Masters.
Sunday’s was his 22nd win – and his 40th ranking title, in both cases four clear of Hendry for the record. The Masters, as an invitational event, is not classed as a ranking title.
O’Sullivan has won the World Championship and the Masters seven times each – a Masters record, with one more title than Hendry and is level with the Scot for the modern-era record in the World Championship.
Eleven players have completed a career triple crown, with O’Sullivan, Hendry and Davis joined by John Higgins, Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson, Alex Higgins, Judd Trump, Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy.
Hendry – twice – Davis and Williams are the only players to win all three events in the same season. Should O’Sullivan manage to claim next month’s Masters title at Alexandra Palace, he can dream of adding his name to that illustrious list.
Ronnie O’Sullivan odds
O’Sullivan has often seemed to have a love-hate relationship with snooker and he did not struggle to contain his excitement after his latest victory.
As he soaked up the application, he said: “I get more of a buzz from going for a run in the morning and having breakfast with my mate.
“I’m not sitting here with a massive grin and super-excited. I just go through the motions a lot of the time.”
He has at least proved he can win titles even when not especially motivated to do so and the question now is whether he can complete the clean sweep this season.
The latest Ronnie O’Sullivan odds suggest he has a decent chance.
O’Sullivan is second favourite at 4/1 to win the Masters in January and the same price to win the 2024 World Championship while Coral are offering 20/1 for him to win both in their snooker season specials betting.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
