Ronnie O’Sullivan thanked by referee for classy act during UK Championship final win over Ding Junhui

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN was thanked by the referee for a classy act during his UK Championship final win over Ding Junhui.

O’Sullivan became the older player to win the prestigious tournament on the eve of his 38th birthday with a 10-7 victory on Sunday night.

GettyRonnie O’Sullivan was thanked by ref Rob Spencer for his class act in the UK Championship final[/caption]

AFPThe Rocket set more records as he scooped an eighth title[/caption]

He has now won the UK Championship a record eight times.

And O’Sullivan’s triumph also came 30 years after becoming the youngest-ever victor aged just 17 in 1997.

The win saw him pocket a cool £250,000 cash prize.

But despite the riches on offer, O’Sullivan showed his integrity and class when referee Rob Spencer missed a foul in the sixth frame

O’Sullivan was trailing 21-19 after going 4-1 up on sets when he accidentally brushed a red ball with his cue.

The standard punishment would have been a foul and four points to Junhui.

But ref Spencer missed the incident entirely, leading to O’Sullivan immediately informing him of the error.

The crowd gave the Rocket a standing ovation for his honesty as Spencer thanked him.

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AFPO’Sullivan owned up to a foul in favour of Ding Junhui after it was missed by the ref[/caption]

Speaking after the final, O’Sullivan expressed his delight at setting more records in snooker.

The legend said: “Each tournament I win these days, I get great pleasure out of it.

“I may not have played my best stuff. It shows what a strange game it is. I have to leave blood, sweat and tears out on the table.

“I always keep beating myself up because of the age stuff, at some point I think I have to stop winning, but I will keep going until the wheels fall off.

“Ding played fantastically all week. It was a pleasure to play him. A credit to China. He is the Godfather of Chinese snooker.

“I could feel a bit of sabotage coming in the afternoon. I was getting frustrated.

“I feel like I play snooker like Seve Ballesteros, in and out of the trees, it’s nuts this game sometimes. But it catches up with you. It’s quite draining.

“I have to have resilience. It’s easy to get down on yourself and get frustrated but I have to think of the positives. You need that resilience to keep going. 

“I felt like there was a burst in there somewhere, so I had to hang in there until that burst came at the end.”