Neil Robertson wins second UK title boosted by stunning 147 break

Having led Liang 5-3 in Sunday's final boosted by running in the third maximum break of his career in the sixth frame of the afternoon, world number three Robertson closed out the final session in comfortable fashion for a 10-5 success later in the evening as his Chinese opponent missed too many balls in falling to defeat.

Melbourne's 2010 world champion Robertson benefited from a safety error by Liang to compile his maximum before an enthralled audience in the arena and millions watching on television.

Robertson already had the high break prize of £4,000 after running in 145 on Tuesday night after Uh-Nooh had missed his black in the sixth frame of their meeting in the last 32 of the event which he won 6-2.

Robertson - indisputably snooker's most successful overseas player from outside the UK-based sport - adds £40,000 to that total for making the first maximum in the final of the UK Championship, the sport's second biggest ranking event behind the World Championship. It may come as some consolation to Uh-Nooh, who would have had to split his prize if he had potted his final black.

Add to his earnings the £150,000 for winning the UK title for a second time in three years, and Robertson's week's work earns him £194,000, and this after he collected £100,000 for winning the Champion of Champions event in Coventry a fortnight ago.

Robertson made his first maximum at the China Open in 2010 and his second at the Wuxi Classic in 2013, but this is the first maximum recorded in a UK final.

It is the fourth straight year a 147 break has been compiled at the tournament following on from John Higgins in 2012, Mark Selby in 2013 and Ronnie O'Sullivan - who is the game's highest 147 maker on 13 maximums - a year ago.

Forty-five of the 115 maximum breaks in competitive snooker have been achieved in the past five years, hinting at the rising standards in the sport and perhaps justifying the decision to scrap the £147,000 prize for making a maximum in 2010 because they had become so common, and were becoming so expensive for governing body World Snooker to insure against.

Apart from the maximum, Robertson ran in breaks of 60, 106 and 69 followed by runs of 78 and 56 in the evening. Liang stayed in touch with knocks of 110, 86, 82 and 78 to give him hope of claiming his first ranking title in the sport, but that was quickly dispelled by a player performing at the peak of his powers all week.