Ronnie O’Sullivan suffered a disappointing first-round exit on the Northern Eire Open as he misplaced the ultimate three frames to lose 4-3 to world-ranked 110 participant Ka Wai Cheung in Belfast.
After a robust begin from Cheung, O’Sullivan gained three frames in a row earlier than a valiant comeback from the Hong Kong qualifier knocked out the 50-year-old.
For Cheung it was his first win in a main-draw knockout match at a rating occasion and he’ll now face Stuart Bingham for a spot within the final 16.
O’Sullivan grew to become the eighth top-16 participant to lose of the 9 who had performed on the Waterfront Corridor to date, with Judd Trump later including to that tally as he went down 4-3 to fellow Englishman Martin O’Donnell.
O’Donnell led thrice within the match however Trump responded on every event to attract degree, earlier than world quantity 56 O’Donnell prevailed within the deciding body.
Trump compiled breaks of 91, 94 and 52, with O’Donnell placing collectively three breaks of fifty or over to seal his first win over the previous world champion and world quantity three.
Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Xiao Guodong, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter fell on Sunday, with Chris Wakelin, Barry Hawkins, Trump and O’Sullivan following them out of the match on Monday.
O’Sullivan had not performed at a match in the UK since April’s World Championship 13-12 second-round loss loss to John Higgins and it was not the victorious return he would have hoped for.
The world quantity 13 was making a primary look on the NI Open since 2022 and was enjoying in a House Nations occasion for the primary time for the reason that 2024 English Open.
Cheung made a shiny begin and claimed the opening body however O’Sullivan responded to that early setback by claiming the subsequent three frames in speedy and emphatic style.
Breaks of 56,138 and 72 noticed him transfer 3-1 forward however that was nearly as good because it bought for the three-time NI Open finalist.
Simply because it appeared like O’Sullivan had discovered type, he missed a great probability on a pink within the fifth and Cheung clinched the body after a run of 88.
Cheung’s confidence grew and he pressured a deciding body with one other spectacular 77.
One other expensive miss from O’Sullivan gave the 27-year-old the possibility to advance which he did with a break of 61.
“I am very joyful that I can nonetheless play effectively below strain,” mirrored Cheung when he spoke to BBC Sport NI after the match.
“To be sincere, as you’ll be able to see within the enviornment, Ronnie had a whole lot of followers. I used to be really scared a little bit bit earlier than the match however that is one of the best expertise.
“Regardless of if I had misplaced or gained, I feel it’s the finest expertise for my snooker profession and that’s all I would like.
“To play the legend of the sport and to win, that is very satisfying for me.”
In Monday’s different afternoon video games, Hawkins was overwhelmed 4-2 by Daniel Wells however former world champion and 2024 NI Open champion Kyren Wilson progressed to spherical two with a snug 4-0 win over Ben Mertens.
Wakelin misplaced 4-1 to Welshman Jamie Jones earlier within the day, whereas Luca Brecel bought the higher of Lei Peifan by the identical scoreline.
Scot John Higgins are amongst these in motion through the night session.