The ‘Rocket’ is back on top

Ronnie O’Sullivan romped to victory in the Maplins UK Championship final at Telford International Centre, and declared: “I can’t wait to come back.”

O’Sullivan demolished Stephen Maguire 10-2 in yesterday’s showpiece finale, whitewashing the Scot in the eight-frame afternoon session before completing the formalities last night.

And the Chigwell ace, who is now the provisional world No 1 after winning his first ranking event in 32 months, hailed his time in Shropshire as one of the best weeks of his life.

O’Sullivan, who has adopted long distance running as his most potent weapon in his ongoing battle against depression, joined up with Telford Athletics Club for training at the start of the event.

And he has since developed a friendship with the club’s Welsh international Chris Davies, who has been a regular in the crowd at O’Sullivan’s matches this week.

“Telford’s a brilliant venue and hopefully we’ll come here for the next three years if they can sort out the deal,” the crowd favourite told the Shropshire Star in the aftermath of last night’s match. “I’ll be coming back to visit even now the tournament is over because it’s been great for me.

“Chris and his family are lovely people and I’ve enjoyed meeting them more than the snooker, to be honest. It’s been one of the best weeks of my life.”

O’Sullivan pockets £100,000 as his prize for winning snooker’s second most prestigious tournament for the fourth time.

He also went away with an extra £30,000 for the 147 break he made in the deciding frame of Saturday night’s tense semi-final with Mark Selby - £25,000 for the maximum and £5,000 for the highest break of the tournament.

But, despite the margin of victory, O’Sullivan was full of praise for Maguire.”Everyone in snooker knows what a class act he is, and I knew I had to be at my best.”

A shell-shocked Maguire admitted: “Looking back though, I shouldn’t be embarrassed to be beaten by him.”