O’Sullivan shocked by Zhou in UK Championship first round

Ronnie O’Sullivan, the eighth-time champion, was eliminated from the UK Championship on Tuesday after being shocked by Zhou Yuelong’s shock 6-4 defeat in the first round at York Barbican.

O’Sullivan, who turns 50 on Friday, was playing his first match since May’s World Championship semi-final defeat to Zhao Xintong, who lost 17-7.

O’Sullivan lost four frames on the black, including the seventh frame when he had led 64-0 before losing it 65-64 despite breaking quickly and entertaining records for 71, 123, 62, 94, 65, and 56 against Zhou.

Zhou, who finished 29th overall in the world rankings, never lost hope and won with a score of 125 frames.

Early in the ninth frame, he had a chance to win. However, a second chance quickly appeared.

O’Sullivan had a 58-46 lead in frame 10, but Zhou lost position when switching from yellow to green, which gave him a superb victory.

Englishman O’Sullivan, who is regarded by many as the greatest snooker player ever, now lives with his family in Dubai and is much more selective about what happens at his events.

In each of their previous seven meetings, he had defeated Zhou, who is 27 years old, but this result shows that China is facing a fierce challenge, with seven Chinese players in the last 16.

Mark Selby, the two-time UK champion, won the match with a 6-2 victory over Lei Peifan, the qualifier from China.

Before Lei won two frames in a row to keep his hopes alive, Selby broke the frames 51, 82, 75, and 133 to advance 5-0. However, the Englishman won the eighth frame to advance.