O’Sullivan Falls To Davis Defeat

Ronnie O’Sullivan let slip a 3-0 lead as he lost 4-3 to Mark Davis in the second round of the Coral Welsh Open in Cardiff.

On a day of shocks at the Motorpoint Arena, O’Sullivan joined Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy and Marco Fu as casualties in the last 64 of the world ranking event.

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O’Sullivan had been seeking to win his fifth Welsh Open title and defend the crown he captured last year. But he lost focus after winning the first three frames, allowing world number 31 Davis to take advantage and set up a third round meeting with Fergal O’Brien.

Five -time World Champion O’Sullivan looked in full control when he knocked in breaks of 97 and 74 to go 2-0 ahead, then dominated the third frame. But Davis launched his fight back with a run of 65 then got the better of a scrappy fifth frame, O’Sullivan crucially missing the final green to a centre pocket. Davis kept his momentum going and fired breaks of 81 and 64 to take the last two frames.

“At 3-0 down it wasn’t looking good,” said Sussex’s 44-year-old Davis. “I just dig in, I never give up, you never know what can happen. You just battle on, even against Ronnie. I know I can win it if I play my game – there is no point talking about it, you have to go and do it. I have known that for a long time, I know how good I am, there is no reason I can’t win it.”

Schoolboy sensation Jackson Page kept his run going with a 4-3 defeat of John Astley – for more on that story click here.

Robertson was edged out 4-3 by experienced Welshman Lee Walker. Breaks of 133 and a tournament-high 143 helped Robertson build a 3-1 lead, but Walker won two scrappy frames for 3-3, helped by an outrageous fluke on the final black in the fifth, then made an excellent 130 in the decider.

Murphy suffered a 4-2 defeat against tour rookie Josh Boileau (for more on that story click here) while Fu went down 4-0 against Ross Muir.

World Champion Mark Selby came from 2-1 down to beat Mike Dunn 4-2, compiling runs of 97, 66 and 71 in the last three frames.

“If big names are going out then they are going out for a reason as other people are playing well,” said Selby. “That comes down to the best of seven format, which makes it a bit of a leveller. There is a long way to go and I won’t get ahead of myself.”

Judd Trump came from 1-0 down to beat Alex Borg 4-2 with a top break of 73.

Welshman Michael White edged out Liang Wenbo 4-3 in a dramatic finish. Coral English Open champion Liang came from 3-1 down to 3-3 then led 65-4 in the decider. But Neath’s White got the snooker he needed and eventually won with a colours clearance after Liang had missed match-ball yellow.

“It was an incredible match, I haven’t been involved in a match like that,” said 2015 Indian Open winner White. “It’s right up there with my career best wins. The adrenaline was absolutely pumping. I had the fight in me to get the snooker and get the win.”

Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo played some Samba Snooker in a 4-2 win over Anthony McGill, top scoring with 105, while Iran’s Hossein Vafaei made 103 and 118 in a 4-2 win over Chris Keogan.

Stuart Bingham saw off Rory McLeod 4-2 while in-form Barry Hawkins made a 113 in a 4-0 win over Tian Pengfei.