s=10CHIGWELL-based Ronnie O'Sullivan claims he has become a better player since rocketing to his third UK Championship title with a crushing 10-1 victory over Ken Doherty.o

s=9The 26-year-old world champion chalked up his 23rd professional title with a trophy he first captured in 1993 at the age of 17.o

O'Sullivan appeared to use Sunday's final at the Barbican Centre in York as a showcase for his unparalleled fluency at the table as he condemned Doherty to the heaviest defeat of his career in just 137 minutes.

The 'Essex Exocet', who joins the select band of Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott and John Higgins as the only players to complete the World and UK Championship double, said: "It's a fantastic achievement for me to win both the world and UK titles.

"Since I won at the Crucible the pressure's off. I've got nothing left to prove and all I want to do is win as many tournaments as possible."

O'Sullivan's £100,000 winnings also took him over another milestone, when he became only the fourth player after Hendry, Davis and Jimmy White to win £3 million in career prize money.

Ronnie, who spoke of retiring from the game in the lead up to him fulfilling his huge potential of clinching the World title last year, well and truly appears to have exorcised the demons of self doubt that have gripped him the past at this tournament.

In previous years O'Sullivan would have probably lost his edge in some of the earlier rounds but the newly confident player somehow fought back to overcome Peter Ebdon from a position of four frames down with five to play in the quarter-final to snatch a 9-8 victory.

And the man who is widely regarded as the most naturally gifted player ever to hold a cue, continued this devastating form as he grabbed three centuries of 107, 142 and 131 on his way to a 9-6 semi-final victory against Mark Williams.

Summing up his tournament performance O'Sullivan said: "I wanted to win a few matches but didn't think I'd be going home with the silverware.

"As the week went on I thought I had a better chance of winning, although I didn't have an easy draw and I had to beat some top-quality players."

December 21, 2001 15:34