World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan suffered a shock 4-2 defeat against Zhang Anda in the last 16 of the BetVictor English Open, while World Champion Luca Brecel was also knocked out, losing 4-3 to Ding Junhui.
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Thursday night’s results mean that O’Sullivan hangs on to the official world number one position for at least another ten days. Brecel could have gone above him with a run to the semi-finals, but instead he’ll have another chance to gain top spot at next week’s Wuhan Open.
Shanghai Masters champion O’Sullivan looked on top of his game on Wednesday when he made three centuries to beat Jackson Page, but he had to battle to get past Si Jiahui on Thursday afternoon, before his run was ended by world number 57 Zhang. China’s 31-year-old Zhang is through to the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the fourth time in his career and will hope to reach his first semi-final when he plays Zhou Yuelong, who beat Ali Carter 4-1.
O’Sullivan led 2-1 but his opponent then dominated, firing breaks of 97, 50 and 116. Zhang said: “I played well tonight, my break building was good and I did not make serious mistakes. I felt a bit nervous at the beginning but I was pretty settled after the first frame. I took some extra time lining up the last few shots, thinking about the winning line. From 2-1, Ronnie missed a few and went for a couple of shots when he could have played safe instead, which offered me chances.
“I have won matches recently in qualifiers, playing well, so generally I feel good. The best players are used to the feeling of winning as a habit. I’m getting a bit of that and want to keep this going.”
Crucible king Brecel led 2-0 before China’s Ding hit back to take three in a row. Brecel made it 3-3 and had two scoring chances in the decider, but couldn’t take advantage and Ding won it with a run of 58.
Local favourite Matthew Selt beat Ricky Walden 4-3 to reach his first ranking quarter-final since his runner-up finish at the 2022 Turkish Masters. Selt will now face the player who beat him in that final in Turkey, Judd Trump.
Walden came from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 and had a chance for victory in frame six but missed the pink on 46. Selt recovered to take that frame on the colours, then won the decider in three scoring visits.
“My game is the best it has ever been,” said Selt. “It’s great to have a tournament where I can stay at home. Yesterday before I played Mark Allen I was doing bath time at 6pm with the two kids. I’m able to do my usual routine. And it’s great to have 15 or 20 people cheering for me in the crowd, that gives me confidence.”
Trump came from 2-1 down to beat Yuan Sijun 4-2 with a top break of 86, while Martin O’Donnell reached his sixth ranking event quarter-final with a 4-2 victory over He Guoqiang.
John Higgins is enjoying his second deep run in a ranking event this season as he was a semi-finalist at the BetVictor European Masters. He saw off Oliver Lines 4-1 and made a 145, the new front runner for the £5,000 high break prize. Scotland’s 48-year-old Higgins also compiled runs of 71, 91 and 132 in a tremendous performance.
Friday’s quarter-finals
Martin O’Donnell v John Higgins
Judd Trump v Matthew Selt
Zhang Anda v Zhou Yuelong
Ding Junhui v Liu Hongyu or Mark Williams
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