RON TOP OF THE WORLD

Seventh heaven for tearful Rocket as he levels Hendry’s haul

BY HECTOR NUNNS

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN became the oldest Crucible champion on a night that saw him equal Stephen Hendry’s record seven world titles.

And having achieved that feat by beating Judd Trump 18-13 in the World Championship final, the Rocket can definitively be hailed as ‘the greatest’.

Already holding the records for most ranking titles, most Majors, most century breaks and most maximum 147s, Hendry’s extra success in Sheffield was the itch the world No.1 needed to scratch.

And in doing that, O’sullivan edged ahead of his former mentor and friend Ray Reardon by winning the title at the age of 46 years and 158 days.

Reardon had been 45 years and 203 days old when he lifted the trophy 44 years ago in 1978.

But the statistics do not begin to tell the story of the spell O’sullivan has cast over snooker since he turned pro 30 years ago alongside John Higgins and Mark Williams.

And he lit up the iconic arena yet again in more ways than one yesterday, at one point getting a lighter out and burning an offending fibre on the tip of his cue. If his greatest world title feat came in 2013 when he stormed to the crown after taking an entire year away from the game, this carried far more significance as well as a £500,000 cheque.

And there is now perfect symmetry in O’sullivan’s haul of ‘Majors’ – seven world titles, seven UK Championship wins, and seven Masters triumphs. He also delivered a fairy-tale ending for his documentary film crew – and the auction for all those hundreds of hours of footage could now be intense.

The Rocket has been tracked all season by a team with unlimited access both in the arena, backstage and at home.

And in their wildest dreams those behind the project could not have imagined this famous night that saw their subject bring the house down.

Until a Trump rally in the non-political sense yesterday, O’sullivan had hardly been tested in wins over Dave Gilbert, Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire and John Higgins.

The first day of this final had been the O’sullivan show in every sense. Heated exchanges between the Rocket and referee Olivier Marteel appeared to have disturbed Trump’s focus.

The Juddernaut got dragged into the circus on Sunday afternoon and may with hindsight think that another time he would be better off staying well out of it.

But yesterday we saw the real Trump, the one that has been overall the best player on tour over the past four seasons.

Having been a pale shadow of himself for the first two sessions, realistically Trump from 12-5 down had to win the third session yesterday afternoon 6-2 to have any chance.

And as the realisation of what he could achieve seemed to start weighing on the Rocket for the first time in the tournament, Trump did just that to close to 14-11 ahead of the evening finale.

Two century breaks and another effort of 59 kept the match alive and delivered a message to his rival that this was not going to be a mere procession to the coronation.

He continued to battle and knocked in the 109th century of the tournament this year – a new record. But Trump had just left it too late and the king was crowned.