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| December 20, 2001 | Thursday | Shawwal 4, 1422 |
O’Sullivan toys with Doherty in final
YORK, Dec 19: Ronnie O’Sullivan completed a 10-1 demolition job on Irishman Ken Doherty at the Barbican Centre in York Sunday evening to capture his third UK Championship and join an exclusive club.
O’Sullivan becomes only the fifth player after Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott and John Higgins to win the world and UK titles in the same year.
The winner’s cheque for pounds 100,000 also makes him the fourth player in snooker history to pass the pounds 3million mark in prize money — Davis, Hendry and Jimmy White are the others.
O’Sullivan produced a dazzling display of long-potting and brilliant break-building to claim the 11th ranking title of his nine-year professional career — but first of the 2001-2002 season.
Doherty could easily have won the first three frames. The fact that he managed to take only one did not augur well for his chances.
He left the green short of a baulk pocket when looking certain to clear up towards the end of a tense opening frame lasting 30 minutes.
A break of 95 enabled him to level at 1-1 after O’Sullivan had missed an ambitious long pot but he then missed a tricky red along the top cushion to let his opponent in for a 72 clearance.
O’Sullivan then hit peak form, firing in a brilliant long red to pave the way for a break of 106, which put him 3-1 ahead at the interval. It was his sixth ton of the tournament and the 267th of his nine-year professional he career. He is rapidly closing on the man who currently stands second behind Hendry on the all-time list — Davis with 280.
Things went from bad to worse for Doherty after the interval. He missed a black off its spot in frame five, which O’Sullivan sealed with a 41 clearance to the pink.
By now, The Rocket was potting them off the lampshades. Another blistering long red launched a break of 72 to make it 5-1 and he surpassed that with an even better free-ball blue the length of the table in the next, which proved to be worth a frame-winning 62.
Frame eight was nothing short of disastrous for a by-now demoralised Doherty. He left an easy red hanging in the jaws of the top left-hand pocket, then missed a suicidal long red to let O’Sullivan in for a decisive run of 49.
Breaks of 59 and 46 completed a magnificent seven and made the final session nothing more than a formality.
O’Sullivan took just 17 minutes to finish the job. Doherty missed an easy red at the start of the tenth frame to let his opponent in for a 66. He opened up a 58-0 lead in the next before fluking a red into the top right-hand pocket to make it safe.
It was that kind of day for Doherty, who scored only 77 points in losing the last nine frames and 43 in the last eight. Overall, he was outscored 875-219.
Doherty’s consolation in his last tournament as a bachelor — he marries girlfriend Sarah Prasad in Melbourne on Dec 28 — was a cheque for pounds 54,000. That should at least pay for the honeymoon!
O’Sullivan also collected pounds 10,000 for the highest televised break of 142 made against Williams in the semi-finals.
Victory increases his lead at the top of the world rankings. On this form, few would dispute that he deserves to be top dog.
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