Snooker: Winning easier for O'Sullivan as world champ

Ronnie O’Sullivan believes he is a better player for being king of the world, with his 10-1 demolition of Ken Doherty in the UK Championship final providing the proof.

The ‘Essex Exocet’ revealed that winning the World Championship at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre last May had eased the burden of expectation that had lived with him since he emerged on the scene at the age of 16.

Although his York triumph this weekend was his first of the season, world number two O’Sullivan insisted he is now much stronger mentally and there were certainly no demons evident as he took the UK crown for the third time.

‘‘It just goes to show the confidence I gained from Sheffield,’’ said O’Sullivan, who became the fifth man to hold the game’s two most prestigious ranking titles simultaneously by destroying Doherty’s challenge.

‘‘Winning the World Championship was massive for me - a huge weight off my shoulders.

‘‘Some players have said that becoming world champion put the pressure on them but for me it was the opposite. It was a bonus for me and I enjoy the game a lot more now.

‘‘Sheffield did me a power of good. There’s no pressure on me now. It’s all about accumulating as many trophies as I can. I just want to win tournaments.’’

The 25-year-old admitted that collecting the £100,000 first prize had not been in his mind when he travelled to York.

‘‘I didn’t arrive with big expectations,’’ said O’Sullivan, who was repeating his UK Championship successes of 1993 and 1997.

‘‘I wanted to win a few matches but didn’t think I’d be going home with the silverware. But as the week went on I thought I had a better chance of winning.

‘‘I didn’t have an easy draw. I had to beat some top-quality players. I played Ali Carter in my first match and I know how good he is because I practise with him and have to pick the balls out of the pockets for him.

‘‘I struggled a bit against Dave Finbow, and Peter Ebdon played out of his skin against me in the first session - he was methodical and scored heavily. Then it was Mark Williams, who is a very dangerous opponent.

‘‘It’s always lovely to play in a final but it was quite tense against Ken. I hadn’t won this season and there was a bit of pressure on me to get off the starting blocks. It’s nice to get this in the bag.’’

O’Sullivan also attempted to explain his outburst after his quarter-final against Ebdon when he hit back at his opponent’s claim that he had enjoyed all the luck in his 9-8 victory.

In a verbal destruction of Ebdon’s game, O’Sullivan said the world number seven was ‘‘the luckiest player ever’’, ‘‘like an amateur’’, ‘‘had no class around the table’’ and had a tendency to take on ‘‘the nuttiest shot ever’’.

‘‘All I meant was that I wouldn’t want to play like Peter Ebdon,’’ claimed O’Sullivan.

‘‘I just had to voice my opinion. I think it’s a tremendous asset to be lucky. I used to love it when people said I was lucky as a kid.

‘‘It’s just that certain things get under my skin when they aren’t true, like Peter saying that I was lucky against him. In the heat of the moment it had to come out.’’