O’Sullivan crashes out of English Open after shock He defeat
O’Sullivan was beaten by He in Brentwood (PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo)
Ronnie O’Sullivan crashed out of the English Open following a 4-2 defeat by He Guoqiang in the last 64 on Tuesday.
The Rocket won this title in 2017, beating Kyren Wilson 9-2 in the final for his only Home Nations triumph to date.
The seven-time World champion arrived in Brentwood off the back of a solid start to the season, consisting of two semi-final appearances and a run to the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters quarter-finals last time out.
However, he was helpless in stopping his Chinese opponent, who recorded a second victory over O’Sullivan this campaign.
He, who was a 3-0 winner when they faced off at the Championship League in June, took a scrappy opening frame, before breaks of 78 and 77 moved him to the brink of victory at 3-0 up.
O’Sullivan stopped the rot with 56, before a run of 59 from 43-0 down reduced the deficit to just a single frame at 3-2.
But He was not to be denied, the world number 64 controlling the sixth frame with a contribution of 50 enough to get him over the line.
His reward is a showdown with Stephen Maguire, who whitewashed Hungarian teenager Bulcsu Revesz 4-0.
Mark Williams was another big name to fall on Tuesday, the three-time World champion went down 4-1 against a resurgent Ben Woollaston.
Gary Wilson and Tom Ford also bowed out – losing to Ross Muir and Jiang Jun respectively – while Jack Lisowski was beaten 4-3 by Xu Si.
Meanwhile, Mark Allen was on the right side of a deciding-frame finish against Long Zehuang.
After a break of 88 put him 2-0 to the good, the Pistol found himself 3-2 behind as the Chinese had runs of 65, 67 and 69.
However, the world number three recovered to control the last two frames and scrape over the line.
Luca Brecel was also a 4-3 winner after a late-night thriller with Anthony Hamilton, as were Hossein Vafaei and Matthew Selt against Matthew Stevens and Ricky Walden respectively.
John Higgins had no such difficulties. The four-time World champion hit a top break of 97 in his commanding 4-1 win over Andrew Higginson, while Neil Robertson completed his win by the same margin against Jackson Page with a 104.
Elsewhere, Barry Hawkins beat Jimmy Robertson 4-2 with Anthony McGill repeating the feat against Xiao Guodong, and Lyu Haotian doing so against Dominic Dale, while Jamie Jones whitewashed Zhou Yuelong 4-0.
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English Open 2024 Results
Tuesday September 17
Last 64
Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Matthew Stevens
Gary Wilson 3-4 Ross Muir
Matthew Selt 4-3 Ricky Walden
Tom Ford 2-4 Jiang Jun
Mark Allen 4-3 Long Zehuang
Lyu Haotian 4-2 Dominic Dale
Mark Williams 1-4 Ben Woollaston
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Bulcsu Revesz
Neil Robertson 4-1 Jackson Page
Barry Hawkins 4-2 Jimmy Robertson
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-4 He Guoqiang
John Higgins 4-1 Andrew Higginson
Zhou Yuelong 0-4 Jamie Jones
Anthony McGill 4-2 Xiao Guodong
Luca Brecel 4-3 Anthony Hamilton
Jack Lisowski 3-4 Xu Si