World Champion Kyren Wilson suffered a 4-3 defeat against Joe O'Connor in the last 32 of the BetVictor Welsh Open, ending his hopes of winning the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus.
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On a day of surprise results in Llandudno, Wilson's exit followed defeats for Mark Williams, Mark Allen and Neil Robertson. Victory tonight would have brought Wilson within one more win of over-taking Robertson at the top of the BetVictor Home Nations Series rankings, but now the bonus can only be won by Robertson, Luca Brecel and Pang Junxu (more on that race here).
Wilson has already won three ranking titles in 2024/25 but won't add to his haul this week as Leicester's O'Connor made a vital break of 58 in the deciding frame. He's through to the last 16 of a knockout ranking event for the first time this season and will meet Matthew Stevens on Thursday.
"It's a great win, to beat someone of Kyren's calibre," said O'Connor, a semi-finalist in this event in 2019. "I missed a couple of easy balls but overall it was a good performance. I enjoy playing on table one and trying to put on a show. I've still got time to finish the season well. Maybe there was a bit of extra pressure on Kyren tonight because he was chasing the bonus, but he's World Champion so I doubt that affected him much."
Brecel continued to show signs of a return to his best as he beat Noppon Saengkham 4-2. The 2023 Crucible king opened with a 147 attempt which ended on 105 when he missed the black off the 14th red. Brecel later stole the fifth frame from 71-0 down to go 3-2 ahead, then finished in style with a 108.
"My cue ball control was good," said the Belgian, who meets Pang next. "I am having fun out there and making good breaks. Hopefully more of the same tomorrow."
Jack Lisowski had three centuries in his opening match on Tuesday and followed up with further runs of 112 and 105 tonight as he beat Chris Wakelin 4-1.