Ronnie O’Sullivan has crashed out of the Northern Ireland Open after a devastating 4-3 defeat at the hands of Yan Bingtao at the last 16 stages in Belfast.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s curse at the Northern Ireland Open has continued as he was eliminated in the last 16 to Yan Bingtao. The Rocket is yet to win the title in Belfast after he finished runner-up in the last three editions to Judd Trump, but this time, he was kicked out in the last 16 stages.

Early in the match, O’Sullivan twice took the lead, including a remarkable century break, and then a nice clearance of 73 levelled the game in the sixth frame, but it was the Masters champion who got over the line in an engrossing contest. An error from O’Sullivan allowed the 21-year-old Chinese player a chance to capitalize. Yan Bingtao is now through to the quarter-finals and deserves the win for his persistence.

Yan, who is the youngest player to win the Amateur World Snooker Championship, had a terrific game against O’Sullivan and is now a favourite to win the tournament. The current world number 15, now becomes the only player apart from Judd Trump, to beat the six-time world champion in the Northern Ireland Open since he was defeated by Elliot Slessor in 2017.

The 21-year-old Chinese was advanced to the next stage, where he will face Mitchell Mann in the quarter-finals, as he targets the second ranking title of his career.

Another phenomenal game saw John Higgins stage a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down against Mark Williams to reach the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Open.

The world number 7 looked like he was doomed to crash out at one stage, but one error from Mark Williams gave him an opportunity to get back into the match. Higgins took full advantage of the error to win the best-of-seven encounter 4-3.

Shaun Murphy bounced back from losing the first frame of his match against Stuart Bingham to win 4-1 and progress into the last eight. Finally, Mitchell Mann won Lü Haotian 4-1.

Written by Collins Nwokolo