PETER Ebdon was crowned the new King of York after winning snooker's Maplin UK Championship and immediately insisted "it means everything".

The 36-year-old defeated world number one Stephen Hendry 10-6 at the city's Barbican Centre to join a select band of players who have won both the UK and the world championship.

As a match it was hardly a classic, but the edgy, nervy affair generated its own excitement and it was Ebdon who composed himself the best to take the title - against the man who beat him the last time he reached a UK final 11 years ago.

An emotional Ebdon was in tears after the win, dedicating it to his family out in Dubai from whom he has been absent for more than a month preparing for the tournament.

But his victory had looked a long way away when he found himself 3-1 behind, after Hendry hit breaks of 51 and 59 to put himself in the driving seat.

Gone was the fluency which had marked his passage through the tournament, but he emerged energised after the mid-session interval and knocked in efforts of 66, 83 and 135 to move 4-3 ahead.

Hendry took the last of the session and, locked at 4-4, the packed crowd were looking forward to an evening potting feast, but Hendry was woefully out of sorts.

Ebdon took the first three frames of the second session to move 7-4 ahead but he was hardly fluent, while Hendry lost all accuracy on his long potting and was error-strewn with even the most basic of shots.

When Ebdon took the next to lead 8-4 at the mid-session interval it looked a formality he would seize the title but, inexplicably, he then suffered what he termed a "wobble".

Hendry pulled back to 8-5 following yet another scrappy frame and fired a superb 116 to move just two behind. But Ebdon composed himself magnificently to take the next and, after Hendry was guilty of missing a very pottable blue, the world number eight struck a magnificent 70 to win his first UK Championship.

Ebdon said: "This just means so much. It's a tournament I have worked so hard for. I always knew it was going to be tough against Stephen. He played some good safety in the first session, then I found a bit of rhythm and then Stephen inexplicably started to miss balls.

"I have played really well in the whole tournament and I had a bit of a wobble for three or four frames. I went out, composed myself, and I felt great. I just lost my concentration.

"I am relieved to get over the line. Unfortunately for the crowd, it wasn't as good a game as the John Higgins match (semi-final) but you just don't get many matches like that.

"This means so much to Deborah (his wife) and the children. I have joined a select group of players and it means so much to me. I put myself under a lot of pressure to win this tournament because I wanted it so badly. I realised half-way through the tournament I wanted to win this more than anything I have ever wanted in my life."

Hendry said: "Tonight I just didn't feel anything. I felt flat. I don't know why, I just couldn't get going at all. I missed so many long balls. I handed it to him on a plate. I feel I had a chance to win every frame - I just couldn't."