Inevitably there was crushing disappointment but Barry Hawkins had to take some consolation from the fact that he lost to the greatest player to ever pick up a cue.

Hawkins’ maiden world championship final ended up in frustration as O’Sullivan charged to an 18-12 victory to claim the fifth world title of his career and his second in a row.

But the 33-year-old Hawkins deserves a lot of credit for the way he fought to the end against the unstoppable force that is the Rocket in full flow.

O’Sullivan had six centuries in the final, a record at the Crucible, but Hawkins had two of his own, in addition to a number of gutsy clearances and five other half century breaks to stay within touching distance.

But by the end O’Sullivan was playing snooker of a different calibre altogether, the type that makes him the maverick, and the champion that he is leaving Hawkins to reflect on what might have been .

“At the moment it’s difficult because I'm pretty gutted,” he said.

“Once you get to the final you want to go on and win the whole thing and I felt like I played really well at times."

“Once you get to the final you want to go on and win the whole thing and I felt like I played really well at times.

“But by this evening I made a few mistakes and he was making unbelievable breaks and clearances, he just makes the game look so easy it’s scary for the rest of us. There’s no shame in losing to him.

“What he has done in taking a year off and then coming back and winning the world title makes him the greatest every in my opinion.

“Stephen Hendry may have won seven but I don’t think there has ever been a better player than Ronnie, he is just unbelievable.”

Almost a year ago Hawkins kicked off the 2012/13 season by winning the first ranking even title of his career at the Australian Open.

And the left-hander has ended his season as the world runner-up to cap what must go down as the best campaign of his entire career.

And while the positives might take a while to filter through the disappointment of coming so close in Sheffield, the cheque for £125,000 will go some way to easing his pain.

“At the moment it’s tough, I wanted to win that so badly but in the end I can take a lot of confidence from this season,” he added.

“I might be upgrading the car with that money, I’ll take a nice holiday as well but I'm sure my wife has got big plans for the money, we’ll have to wait and see.”

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