Ronnie O'Sullivan finally realised his dream of winning the World Championship title after holding off a spirited fightback from John Higgins to win the final 18-14 in Sheffield last night.

O'Sullivan, the biggest box office drawer in the game today, admitted he should have already pocketed snooker's most coveted prize in a nine-year professional career.

But the 25-year-old, beaten in three previous semi-finals at the Crucible Theatre, has crossed the finishing line at last in collecting the first prize of £250,000 sterling.

Higgins staged a brave rally in the evening session but he never got closer than three frames to the player known as The Rocket after losing the first session 6-2.

For too long O'Sullivan has had to carry the unwanted tag of being arguably the most naturally talented player - along with Jimmy White - never to win the game's ultimate accolade.

He won his first pro-am title at just 12, became the youngest winner of a ranking tournament as a 17-year-old and compiled the fastest 147 break in history in the 1997 world championships.

But the stamina and concentration needed to win the greatest prize over 17 days had previously eluded the 25-yearold, who had been beaten in three semi-finals.

This has sparked off frustration and, coupled with not being able to share his triumphs with his father, Ronnie senior, serving a life sentence for murder, is often cited as the chief reason for bouts of depression. Only last June O'Sullivan was having treatment for the illness in the Priory clinic.

This season, during his low periods, he has hinted about quitting the game or cutting down on the number of tournaments.

But in between his many mood swings O'Sullivan has managed to keep his game together on a more consistent basis than ever before, with the result he had already won four tournaments this season ahead of the world championships.

O'Sullivan, whose hero as a youngster was six times world champion Steve Davis, has triumphed in the Champions Cup, Regal Scottish Masters, China Open and Irish Masters.

But he moved onto a higher plane even by his standards in Sheffield as Andy Hicks, Dave Harold, Peter Ebdon and Joe Swail were swept aside with ease.

Even the durable Higgins was powerless to stop the tide for long periods as O'Sullivan's mixture of brilliant potting and positional play, plus immaculate safety play, often made him look invincible.

O'Sullivan has looked totally focused and, most importantly, at ease with himself - and the results have been there for all to see.

O'Sullivan had faltered in the latter part of the afternoon session against Higgins and the 1998 champion restricted his advantage to 14-10 going into their final session.

O'Sullivan began the afternoon as he had concluded the previous evening, when the last four frames had yielded breaks of 99, 100 and 99 to him against one of 107 for Higgins. From his overnight 10-6 he won four of the day's first five frames with runs of 81, 139, 85 and 86 with Higgins securing the other with 65.

At one stage, as O'Sullivan accumulated 362 unanswered points, it seemed as if the evening session might be brief but, as Terry Griffiths, the 1979 champion, once remarked: "The worst time is when you've almost won; when you're a long way in front and you need only a couple of frames to know that, realistically, you can't be caught."

With 20 titles to show from his 28 finals, O'Sullivan rarely shows any inhibitions in clinching winning positions, but Crucible finals, particularly for players who have never won, are in a class of their own and Jimmy White fans remember how their man had led Stephen Hendry 14-8 in the 1992 final only to lose 18-14.

He could be forgiven for having a few nerves in the final session as he edged nearer to the winning post, but that should not detract from his achievement.

A measure of his quality in the final was that he rattled in two centuries and 11 other 50-plus breaks.

A 50 break helped Higgins to the first frame of the evening, but O'Sullivan moved back on course by taking the next two, the second with a run of 78 after his opponent had played a poor safety shot when 43-0 ahead.

That made it 16-11, but Higgins has that never say die spirit and a 62 break in frame 28 and another of 87 in the next kept O'Sullivan waiting.

He moved to within one frame of glory with a 68, but then O'Sullivan missed what was effectively championship ball in frame 31 when he missed a red into the middle bag when 69-6 ahead.

Higgins again stepped in with a superb 65 clearance to win 71-69 - but it was only a temporary reprieve.

He broke down on a run of 45 and it was his last visit to the table as an 80 clearance to the pink by O'Sullivan sent the crowd wild.