Ronnie O’Sullivan crashes OUT of the World Snooker Championship as the seven-time winner’s hopes are ended by Belgian Luca Brecel who staged an incredible comeback by winning the final seven frames
- Ronnie O’Sullivan was knocked out at the quarter-final stage to Luca Brecel
- The seven-time champion led the match 10-6 going into the final session
- However, he lost the final seven frames to the Belgian who goes to the semi-final
Ronnie O’Sullivan is out of the World Snooker Championship following a 13-10 defeat to Belgian Luca Brecel on Wednesday.
The seven-time champion had led the quarter-final match 10-6, but lost seven consecutive frames in the final session at Sheffield.
O’Sullivan, who matched Stephen Hendry’s record of Crucible Crowns last year, failed to make a single break over 30.
His Belgian opponent has set up a semi-final clash with either Anthony McGill or Si Jiahui.
After his shock defeat, O’Sullivan told the BBC: ‘I didn’t put up any resistance but you’ve still got to pot the balls and he played unbelievable. I wasn’t playing well enough to have any impact on the game.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has crashed out of the World Snooker Championship to Luca Brecel
O’Sullivan had held a 10-6 lead but lost the final seven frames in a miserable final session
O’Sullivan admitted after the loss that he wasn’t playing well enough to have any impact
‘If it was a boxing match they would have stopped it very early on. I was just pinching frames and hanging on.
‘There’s only so much hanging on you can do at the Crucible. It catches up with you at some point, and someone will eventually put you away.’
O’Sullivan failed to win a frame in a session at the Crucible for the first time since his 17-11 loss to Graeme Dott in the semi-finals in 2006.
The quarter-final marked his 100th match in the iconic theatre – the first player to reach the centurion club at the famous venue.
O’Sullivan has also won the most matches at the showpiece — 76 — since it was staged at the Crucible.
But his defeat to Brecel will be a tough one to take after he looked to be in the driving seat of the match going into the final session.
This year marked the first time that 28-year-old Brecel has got past the first round, and he is just one more match away from reaching the final.
O’Sullivan match with Brecel marked a century of appearances at the Crucible Theatre
However, his defeat to Brecel will be a difficult one to take after being in the driving seat going into the final session