Matthew Stevens (picture), labelled the best player never to win a world ranking title, set the record straight by capturing the UK Championship in York on Sunday night.

Stevens, beaten in two UK finals and one world, recovered from the shock of losing the first four frames to beat Stephen Hendry 10-8 and pocket a cheque for £84,500.

In so doing, the 26-year-old from Carmarthen became the fourth Welshman to be crowned UK champion after Doug Mountjoy, Terry Griffiths and Mark Williams.

Ninth seed Stevens is the last member of the world's top 12 players to win a ranking event. He has had to wait nine years as a professional to break his duck, although he did win the Masters (an invitation event) in 2000.

The death of his father and mentor, Morrell, in February 2001, coincided with a marked downturn in his fortunes on the table.

But, this season, he has regained his appetite for the game - and made a steady return to form. He reached the semi-finals of the British Open last month, losing 6-3 to Hendry on that occasion.

Stevens had to do it the hard way after making a nightmare start to the final. Hendry, bidding to equal Steve Davis's record of winning six UK titles, had threatened to run away with the match when he opened up a 4-0 lead.

Unbelievably, Stevens won the next five to finish the first session 5-4 ahead, then staged another fightback after Hendry had taken the first three frames of the final session to lead 7-5.

Stevens, whose partner Clare is expecting their first child early next month, added: "I'm going to have a fantastic Christmas now. I will probably have bags under my eyes when I turn up for the next tournament (the Welsh Open in January)."

Asked whether he was pleased that his opponent had finally captured his first ranking title after nine years as a professional, Hendry said: "Not at this precise moment. Matthew is one of the nicest guys on the circuit but I'm a professional sportsman and I'm gutted to lose."