Ronnie O’Sullivan rewrote the snooker history books with his seventh UK Championship win in York on Sunday – before declaring he has another 10 years at the top in him.

‘The Rocket’ downed Masters champion Mark Allen 10-6 in the UK decider, winning nine of the last 13 frames in doing so and putting on a clinical display of precision snooker.

It hoisted him to a career tally of 19 wins at snooker’s Triple Crown events – the UK, the Masters and the World Championship – moving clear of Stephen Hendry’s benchmark of 18.

His seventh UK success also took him out on his own in that event, surpassing Steve Davis’ six wins in the second-biggest ranking event on the calendar.

O’Sullivan, who turned 43 last week, can now legitimately be described as snooker’s most successful player of all time and he seems to be completely in tune with his standing in the game now.

“To beat Hendry’s 18 majors, to get to 19 is crazy. I don’t want to stop there, I want to put some distance between me and the next players to make it harder for them to catch me,” he said.

“I was emotional at the end because I’m playing for the fans and I want to give them enough to smile about. It’s payback time, I owe it to them. I have a special rapport with them, I’m the people’s player and I understand that. They go through it with me, when I get victories they feel it with me.”

Five-time world champion O’Sullivan hinted he still harbours the dream of overhauling Hendry’s seven victories at the Crucible and he’s going to give himself every chance of getting there, it seems.

“As long as I am healthy and fit I think I have another 10 years of entertaining. I will always play snooker, that’s a given. I’ll always find a platform, it has to happen. I’m really looking forward to the future, it’s exciting,” he added.

O’Sullivan is 3.30 to win this week’s Scottish Open in Glasgow, where Judd Trump is 7.00 to add to last month’s Home Nations win in Northern Ireland.