UK Championship 2014: Ronnie O'Sullivan holds off Trump

A 10-9 victory gave 39-year-old O'Sullivan, who came to the tournament at York's Barbican Centre with a broken left ankle, his fifth UK title, to go with his five World Championship trophies and five Masters crowns.

He earns £150,000, to go with the £44,000 he pocketed for Thursday's 147 against Matt Selt, but the big cheque and the trophy almost slipped from his grasp.

Trump was disappointing for a large part of his second UK final, three years after beating Mark Allen in the same venue to carry off the silverware.

But the 25-year-old Bristolian found his potting prowess when on the brink of defeat at 9-4 adrift, and a jaw-dropping recovery saw him force the deciding frame.

Trump treated a rapt audience to 90 minutes of mid-evening potting fireworks as he dashed off back-to-back 120 and 127 breaks followed by runs of 86 and 67, reducing the best-of-19 contest to a single-frame shoot-out.

O'Sullivan was quaking heading into the final frame, but after inching in front early on he rattled in a clinching 51.

O'Sullivan, who first won this tournament days before his 18th birthday in 1993, said: "I can't believe I've won it. I don't want to be playing him in every final. I feel like retiring.

"He's a tough opponent, he's very dynamic and very explosive. He's got so much cue power, he can pot like you wouldn't believe. He's fearless, and he's in your face the whole time, and if you go off the boil he's on you.

"I'm trying to make the most of however long this lasts. It gets harder as you get older but these are great moments. You've got to try to ride that ride as many times as you can.

"I'm going to enjoy this moment. I've won the Champion of Champions title and now the UK Championship. I'm delighted to have had a great few weeks and I can start to think about defending the Masters in January."

The blip in O'Sullivan's year came with defeat in May to Mark Selby in the World Championship final, but in capturing the Masters, Welsh Open, Champion of Champions and now this latest triumph he has shown he is only getting better with age.

Trump is too, putting in the practice hours, and O'Sullivan is wary his big rival will keep improving.

Yet for the second successive major tournament, after last month's big-money Champion of Champions event in Coventry, O'Sullivan has seen off Trump to lay his hands on a trophy.

Snooker has seen great recoveries over the years, including Dennis Taylor's fightback from 8-0 behind to beat Steve Davis 18-17 in the 1985 World Championship final, and Stephen Hendry's recovery from 8-2 adrift to defeat Mike Hallett 9-8 and carry off the 1991 Masters trophy.

Trump would have joined that illustrious company had he come through to take the glory.

The runner-up said: "I was giving in, but then I got to 9-5 and then I got a few chances and made a few breaks and felt good, and I made a really good clearance to reach 9-9.

"I'm a little bit annoyed I didn't really have a chance in the last frame but I didn't bottle it and gave it my best.

"I left it too late and fair play to Ronnie, he took them well in the last frame and overall he was more of a deserving winner."

Until the 15th frame Trump had a best run of only 56, and against O'Sullivan that had rendered him uncompetitive. O'Sullivan had ploughed in a 133, and an array of further frame winners.

Yet when Trump levelled up the momentum was with him.

"It happened so quick and at 9-8 my mind was just gone," O'Sullivan said. "I feel really nervous and having had such a lead I thought, 'If I lose it from here the disappointment would be unbelievable'.

"The pressure was mounting and mounting and it was difficult to put that out of your mind.

"But in the last frame I managed to get a chance, the balls were nice and I had to concentrate on hitting solid shots. It was just relief in the end."

UK Championship 2014 Results

 Tuesday November 25
Afternoon session - 1430
Kurt Maflin 6-1 Chris Norbury (Match 3)
Peter Ebdon 6-5 Ross Muir (Match 4)
Robert Milkins 6-0 Michael Leslie (Match 5)
Marcus Campbell 6-4 Scott Donaldson (Match 6)
Graeme Dott 6-2 Alexander Ursenbache (Match 7)
Anthony Hamilton 6-5 Craig Steadman (Match 8)
Barry Hawkins 6-1 Ashley Carty (Match 17)
Nigel Bond 6-3 Stuart Carrington (Match 18)

Evening session - 1930
Tom Ford 6-4 Barry Pinches (Match 9)
Alan McManus 1-6 Joel Walker (Match 10)
Alfie Burden 6-4 Chris Wakelin (Match 11)
Stuart Bingham 6-0 Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon (Match 12)
Aditya Mehta 6-4 Alex Davies (Match 43)
Judd Trump W/O Rouzi Maimaiti (Match 44)
Michael Holt 6-1 Zak Surety (Match 55)
Dechawat Poomjaeng 6-2 Andrew Norman (Match 56)

Wednesday November 26
Morning session - 0930
Anthony McGill 6-4 Michael Georgiou (Match 20)
John Higgins 6-2 Lee Walker (Match 21)
Jamie Cope 6-2 John J Astley (Match 22)
Matthew Stevens 6-2 Allan Taylor (Match 23)
Gerard Greene 6-2 Vinnie Calabrese (Match 24)
Xiao Guodong 6-1 Ian Glover (Match 26)
Ben Woollaston 6-4 Michael Wasley (Match 29)
Martin Gould 6-4 Lee Page (Match 46)

Afternoon session - 1430
Matthew Selt 6-0 Hammad Miah (Match 25)
Dominic Dale 4-6 Tony Drago (Match 30)
Ding Junhui 6-0 John Sutton (Match 33)
Jimmy White 6-2 Dave Harold (Match 34)
Mark King 0-6 James Cahill (Match 35)
Andrew Higginson 6-3 Tian Pengfei (Match 36)
Joe Perry W/O Liu Chuang (Match 37)
Mike Dunn 6-2 Andrew Pagett (Match 38)

Evening session - 1930
Robbie Williams 6-4 Sam Baird (Match 15)
Ricky Walden 6-2 Steve Davis (Match 16)
Fergal O'Brien 4-6 Igor Figueiredo (Match 19)
Jamie Burnett 4-6 Fraser Patrick (Match 41)
Ryan Day 6-1 Lyu Chenwei (Match 42)
Rod Lawler 6-5 Alex Burg (Match 45)
David Morris 6-4 Li Hang (Match 63)
Mark Selby 6-0 Oliver Brown (Match 64)

Thursday November 27
Morning session - 0930
Ken Doherty 6-2 Mitchell Mann (Match 13)
Mark Davis 6-2 Jak Jones (Match 39)
Jamie Jones 3-6 Liam Highfield (Match 40)
Luca Brecel 6-1 Noppon Saengkham (Match 47)
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-6 Robin Hull (Match 50)
Marco Fu 6-4 Ahmed Saif (Match 53)
Jimmy Robertson 6-1 Zhou Yuelong (Match 57)
Mark Williams 6-1 Steven Hallworth (Match 58)

Afternoon session - 1430
Rory McLeod 6-2 Ian Burns (Match 27)
Ali Carter 5-6 Zhang Anda (Match 28)
Peter Lines 6-4 Joe Swail (Match 31)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-2 Daniel Wells (Match 32)
Mark Allen 6-2 Eden Sharav (Match 48)
Liang Wenbo 6-3 David Grace (Match 51)
Jack Lisowski 6-1 Chris Melling (Match 52)
Cao Yupeng 4-6 Lyu Haotian (Match 54)

Evening session - 1930
Neil Robertson 6-0 Joe O'Connor (Match 1)
Kyren Wilson 6-5 Gary Wilson (Match 2)
Michael White 6-2 Cao Xin Long (Match 14)
Shaun Murphy 6-3 James Wattana (Match 49)
Yu De Lu 6-2 Oliver Lines (Match 59)
Stephen Maguire 6-2 Lu Ning (Match 60)
David Gilbert 6-4 Elliot Slessor (Match 61)
Mark Joyce 6-2 Ratchayothin Yotharuck (Match 62)

Friday November 28
No play

Saturday November 29
Afternoon session - 1300
John Higgins 6-4 Jamie Cope (Match 75)
Matthew Stevens 6-3 Gerard Greene (Match 76)
Ding Junhui 6-2 Jimmy White (Match 81)
Fraser Patrick 6-4 Ryan Day (Match 85)
Marco Fu 6-1 Lyu Haotian (Match 91)
Michael Holt 3-6 Dechawat Poomjaeng (Match 92)
David Gilbert 6-2 Mark Joyce (Match 95)
David Morris 6-4 Mark Selby (Match 96)

Evening session - 1900
Robert Milkins 6-0 Marcus Campbell (Match 67)
Graeme Dott 6-4 Anthony Hamilton (Match 68)
Robbie Williams 5-6 Ricky Walden (Match 72)
Barry Hawkins 5-6 Nigel Bond (Match 73)
Igor Figueiredo 4-6 Anthony McGill (Match 74)
James Cahill 6-4 Andrew Higginson (Match 82)
Aditya Mehta 1-6 Judd Trump (Match 86)
Jimmy Robertson 0-6 Mark Williams (Match 93)

Sunday November 30
Afternoon session - 1300
Neil Roberton 6-5 Kyren Wilson (Match 65)
Kurt Maflin 1-6 Peter Ebdon (Match 66)
Ken Doherty 6-4 Michael White (Match 71)
Rory McLeod 6-5 Zhang Anda (Match 78)
Mark Davis 6-4 Liam Highfield (Match 84)
Rod Lawler 6-5 Martin Gould (Match 87)
Luca Brecel 0-6 Mark Allen (Match 88)
Yu De Lu 4-6 Stephen Maguire (Match 94)

Evening session - 1900
Tom Ford 3-6 Joel Walker (Match 69)
Alfie Burden 3-6 Stuart Bingham (Match 70)
Matthew Selt 6-4 Xiao Guodong (Match 77)
Ben Woollaston 6-3 Tony Drago (Match 79)
Peter Lines 3-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match 80)
Joe Perry 6-1 Mike Dunn (Match 83)
Shaun Murphy 6-3 Robin Hull (Match 89)
Liang Wenbo 4-6 Jack Lisowski (Match 90)

Monday December 1
Afternoon session - 1300
David Gilbert 2-6 David Morris (Match 112)
John Higgins 6-2 Matthew Stevens (Match 102)
Fraser Patrick 3-6 Judd Trump (Match 107)
Nigel Bond 5-6 Anthony McGill (Match 101)

Evening session - 1900
Marco Fu 6-3 Dechawat Poomjaeng (Match 110)
Ken Doherty 1-6 Ricky Walden (Match 100)
Shaun Murphy 6-4 Jack Lisowski (Match 109)
Matthew Selt 6-4 Rory McLeod (Match 103)

Tuesday December 2
Afternoon session - 1300
Robert Milkins 0-6 Graeme Dott (Match 98)
Neil Robertson 6-2 Peter Ebdon (Match 97)
Ben Woollaston 2-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match 104)
Joel Walker 5-6 Stuart Bingham (Match 99)

Evening session - 1900
Ding Junhui 5-6 James Cahill (Match 105)
Mark Williams 2-6 Stephen Maguire (Match 111)
Rod Lawler 6-4 Mark Allen (Match 108)
Joe Perry 5-6 Mark Davis (Match 106)

Wednesday December 3
Afternoon session - 1300
Stuart Bingham 6-0 Ricky Walden (Match 114)
Anthony McGill 6-5 John Higgins (Match 115)

Evening session - 1900
Neil Robertson 5-6 Graeme Dott (Match 113)
James Cahill 2-6 Mark Davis (Match 117)

Thursday December 4
Afternoon session - 1300
Judd Trump 6-3 Rod Lawler (Match 118)
Shaun Murphy 5-6 Marco Fu (Match 119)

Evening session - 1900
Matthew Selt 0-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match 116)
Stephen Maguire 6-3 David Morris (Match 120)

Friday December 5
Afternoon session - 1300
Graeme Dott 5-6 Stuart Bingham (Match 121)
Anthony McGill 4-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match 122)

Evening session - 1900
Mark Davis 1-6 Judd Trump (Match 123)
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Marco Fu (Match 124)

Saturday December 6
Afternoon session - 1300
Stuart Bingham 5-6 Ronnie O'Sullivan

Evening session - 1900
Judd Trump 6-4 Stephen Maguire

Sunday December 7
Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-9 Judd Trump