Rocket Crashes To Carrington Defeat
Ronnie O’Sullivan failed to qualify for the final stages of the 918.com German Masters as he lost 5-3 to world number 62 Stuart Carrington in Wigan.
Five-time World Champion O’Sullivan beat Hamza Akbar 5-1 in his first competitive match of the season on Saturday, but defeat against Grimsby’s Carrington means he will not be one of the 32 players heading to the world ranking event in Berlin in February.
After losing the first frame, O’Sullivan made breaks of 126, 51 and 64 in taking a 2-1 lead. But Carrington dominated the fourth then compiled runs of 72 and 87 to lead 4-2. O’Sullivan pulled one back with a 94 but his opponent sealed victory in the next frame.
Carrington, age 25, qualified for the Crucible for the first time last season but has never been beyond the last 32 of a ranking event.
O’Sullivan will be back in action at the Masters in January where he opens against Mark Williams.
Ding Junhui, who won the German Masters in 2014, also failed to qualify as he lost 5-3 to fellow Chinese potter Tian Pengfei.
And John Higgins became another high profile casualty when he lost 5-3 to Ian Burns. From 3-3, world number 72 Burns won the vital seventh frame on the final pink, then made a match-winning break of 60 in the next.
Ali Carter, who won his third ranking title in Berlin in 2013, booked his return with a 5-3 win over Jimmy Robertson. Defending champion Mark Selby top scored with 81 in a 5-3 win over David Morris.
Judd Trump beat Rhys Clark 5-2 with a top run of 83. World Champion Stuart Bingham trailed Anthony Hamilton four times but eventually came through 5-4. Shaun Murphy enjoyed runs of 118 and 110 in a 5-2 win over Lu Ning.
Shanghai Masters champion Kyren Wilson top scored with 98 in a 5-1 win over Jack Lisowski. Mark Allen saw off Robbie Williams 5-0 with a top run of 95.
Belgium’s Luca Brecel saw off Jamie Jones 5-0 while Gibraltar Open champion Marco Fu top scored with 137 in a 5-1 win over Yu Delu.
Ken Doherty came from 3-2 down to beat Michael White 5-3 while UK Championship runner-up Liang Wenbo saw off Joe Swail 5-2.