RONNIE O’SULLIVAN doesn’t believe in fate, but maybe he was always destined to be this year’s UK snooker champion.

From the broken ankle that threatened his very participation, his heated swipe at the format and tables to the sublime 147 that raised the roof, the entire tournament has revolved around the Rocket.

So as the tenth competition to be held at the York Barbican came to an end, it was perhaps fitting that it was the man who won the first - 13 years ago - that hoisted the trophy in triumph for the fifth time.

Even if it was in the most dramatic of fashions.

O’Sullivan squeezed past Judd Trump 10-9 in an encounter that will go down as one of the competition’s classic finals.

His opponent had done his best to resist the tide. Trailing 5-1 and 9-4, Trump - despite frustrating at various spells - just refused to lay down and die.

He struck two centuries, an 86 and a 67 to force a decider in a magic four-frame spell. But in a tense final shoot-out, O’Sullivan was always in charge and, when he needed it most, used all of his experience to put together a match clinching 51.

At the start of the evening, the requirement to call on such courage had hardly seemed necessary.

Protecting a two-frame lead going into that final session, O’Sullivan had punished Trump mercilessly early on.

Twice the young potter built steady leads, of 48 and 56 points, and on both occasions the five-time world champion came back to take the frames.

They were a dagger through Trump’s heart. As the Rocket’s lead increased, helped by a marvellous 133 clearance in the 12th frame, his game briefly went into meltdown.

He resorted to slapping the balls around the table and even the simplest of pots seemed beyond him.

But slumped in his chair with his head in his hands and looking traumatised by the experience, Trump, nicknamed the Ace In The Pack, threatened to pull a card trick to leave O’Sullivan spellbound - only to fail at the very end.

After the first eight frames of the match, though, a fly on the wall in Trump’s dressing room would have probably seen him express disbelief at only trailing 5-3.

His highest break was just 50 and he had done his best to lose the three frames he did take.

Looking a touch jaded, concentration was sorely lacking as he missed straight-forward balls and put himself into difficulty with poor positional play.

O’Sullivan was hardly electric either, but he was getting the job done when it mattered.

After the opening two frames were shared he took the lead with his highest break of the afternoon, 82, and went further ahead in the next.

Trump tweeted at the mid-session interval that he had to play ten times better to have a chance but soon found himself digging an even deeper hole.

A brilliant long red into the green pocket paved the way for a break of 81 and, after Trump missed an appalling red into the middle pocket, O’Sullivan fired in a tremendous yellow - moving a difficult red off the cushion - as he went 5-1 up.

Trump looked like he was about to fold his hand, but he somehow found a break of 46 to reduce the deficit and managed to pinch the last of the first passage of play.

It was a frame neither player seemed to want to win. Trump built up a 50-point lead but, when given further opportunities after extended bouts of safety play, repeatedly messed up his position.

O’Sullivan fought his way back and even took the initiative when leaving Trump snookered - tight behind the brown - on the final red.

After O’Sullivan later played a poor safety shot, Trump hammered in a half-ball green and got the scoreline back to 5-3.

Would it be a turning point?

As the evening session unfolded it seemed unlikely. But, with his back against the wall, Trump found a will to win that will surely bring him many titles in the future. He came up just short.

For O’Sullivan, at 39, an age when many snooker players are reaching for the pipe and slippers, he seems to be getting better than ever.

Long may it continue.