O’Sullivan stunned by world No. 110 in Belfast

Three frames up, then nothing

Ronnie O’Sullivan lost his opening match at the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast on Monday, beaten 4-3 by Hong Kong qualifier Cheung Ka Wai, the world No. 110.

It started well for the 50-year-old. He dropped the first frame, then won the next three with breaks of 56, 138 and 72 to lead 3-1. Cheung took the fifth after O’Sullivan left a red hanging over the bottom pocket. An 88 from Cheung followed, and he levelled at 3-3 with a 77 clearance after O’Sullivan missed a simple brown.

The decider turned on one shot. O’Sullivan missed a blue to the middle, and Cheung punished it with a 60 to close out the win.

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A first for Cheung

Cheung joined the tour in 2024. Before Monday his only main-draw wins had come in the Championship League, so this was his first knockout victory at a ranking event, and it came against one of the sport’s biggest names.

For O’Sullivan it was an early exit in only his third tournament of the season. His previous match on British soil was the 13-12 second-round loss to John Higgins at the World Championship in Sheffield in April.

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