Ronnie O’Sullivan stunned in UK Championship opener as trophy drought continues

Ronnie O’Sullivan is out of the UK Championship after a 6-4 defeat to Zhou Yuelong in his opening contest in York.

Going into the match the Rocket held a 7-0 head-to-head record against the Chinese star, with three of those wins coming in the UK Championship.

However, the 27-year-old got his first ever victory over the seven-time world champion to book a spot in the last 16 at the Barbican.

It is O’Sullivan’s second successive first round defeat at the UK Championship, having lost to Barry Hawkins in his opener last year.

The Rocket’s trophy drought continues, with his last ranking title coming in January 2024 and his last trophy of any kind at the World Masters of Snooker in March last year.

The Jumping Dragon has shown strong form this season, so it is not the greatest shock, given he has been to the final of the English Open and semis at the Northern Ireland Open.

Zhou moves on to take on Mark Selby in the second round, so it doesn’t get any easier for the four-time ranking event runner-up.

Summing up the match, O;Sullivan told the BBC: ‘Obviously he played better. I didn’t really give him much of a fight. A lot of bad mistakes really, basic ones. He deserved his victory.

‘Defeat’s defeat innit? You’ve got to just accept it as part and parcel of being a professional sportsman.’

The Rocket said earlier in the season that he is unlikely to play at the Masters in January. On whether he has made a decision on that, he said: ‘No, not really. I’ll have a nice Christmas, enjoy that and see how I feel come January.’

The first two frames were close but Zhou won them both to take an early lead, but the Rocket found got going with breaks of 71 and 123 to level up at the interval.

O’Sullivan kept up his scoring with 62 in the fifth, but Zhou pinched it, before the Englishman made 94 to go level again at 3-3.

The 27-year-old nicked another very tight seventh and then knocked in a brilliant 125 to look good at 5-3 up.

The ninth was another tense, tight frame which O’Sullivan took to keep his hopes alive against the world number 29.

There was yet more edginess and plenty of mistakes from both in what turned out to be the final frame, which Zhou won on the black.

More to follow…

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