When a fresh-faced Ronnie O’Sullivan first landed the UK Championship back in 1994, not many snooker fans would have imagined he’d be picking a record-extending eighth title almost 30 years later.
Yet, 12 months ago, ‘Rocket Ronnie’ lifted the prestigious piece of silverware for the first time in five years—adding a 40th ranking title to his immense list of honors, which has since been extended to 41 ranking successes thanks to a third win in the World Grand Prix at the beginning of this year.
The York Barbican is preparing to host the tournament again next month, and it will come as no surprise that O’Sullivan is the favorite to come out on top in the Triple Crown event once again in the UK snooker Championship odds.
So, as the buildup gets underway, let’s take a look back at how Rocket Ronnie sealed his eighth victory last year.
First round: Anthony McGill
Drawn to face Anthony McGill in the last 32, O’Sullivan was expected to make easy work of the 21st seed and progress onward to the latter stages.
However, the Scot came flying out of the blocks and took the first two frames as a monumental upset that looked like it might be on the cards.
Rocket Ronnie kept his cool and went on to win the next six games in a row for a 6-2 victory, booking his place in the last 16.
Second round: Robert Milkins
O’Sullivan’s match against Robert Milkins in the second round was another nervy affair for fans of the Rocket, as the 14th seed followed in McGill’s footsteps and took a two-frame lead.
The snooker betting odds were still in O’Sullivan’s favor, though, and it looked like he had the match under wraps when rocketing into a 4-2 lead.
The pair shared the next two frames to make it 5-3, but Milkins then won two in a row to level the scores and set up a nail-biting tie-breaker.
O’Sullivan dug deep in the final frame to edge out a narrow 6-5 win, but only after Milkins missed two opportunities to win the decider.
Quarter-final: Zhou Yuelong
Despite being the 26th seed, China’s Zhou Yuelong took down big names Neil Robertson and John Higgins to set up a quarter-final clash with O’Sullivan.
However, the chances of ‘The Jumping Dragon’ causing another upset looked off the table as O’Sullivan led 4-1 after five frames.
The 26-year-old wouldn’t go down without a fight and won four frames in a row to take a shock 5-4 advantage.
Knowing that he wasn’t in a position to drop another frame, Rocket Ronnie sealed the next two for a dramatic 6-5 victory.
Semi-final: Hossein Vafaei
O’Sullivan flew into a 2-0 lead against surprise semi-finalist Hossein Vafaei, but the Iranian pulled it back to 2-2 as he attempted to bring a challenge to the Rocket.
That didn’t throw the 48-year-old off the task at hand, and he went on to win the next four frames in a row for a convincing 6-2 win.
Things To Know About No Win No Fee Lawyers(Opens in a new browser tab)
Final: Ding Junhui
A 14-time ranking tournament winner and a 23-time finalist on the biggest stages in the sport, Ding Junhui was by far O’Sullivan’s toughest test yet.
‘The Dragon’ would have been hoping for redemption at the Barbican after losing to Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen in the final 12 months earlier, but he quickly fell to three frames behind.
However, Ding found the fire within, which had won him three UK Championships in the past, and he put up a good fight against O’Sullivan.
After 14 intense frames, the game was poised 7-7. But Rocket Ronnie had more left in the tank late on to pull clear for a 10-7 win.