Ronnie O’Sullivan ousted from Welsh Open by Matthew Stevens

O’Sullivan looked set to progress to the fourth round after clinching the opening two frames, but Stevens responded with a pair of his own to level at 2-2.

The duo then shared the fifth and sixth frames to force a decider, which Stevens took 64-30.

"I scraped over the line although I was fortunate that Ronnie missed a lot of balls,” reflected Stevens.

“I'll take any win against him. It has been 12 years since I beat him and maybe that's why it took so long for me to close it out. It's nice to give the Welsh crowd something to cheer about.

"I was going for my shots today because I felt as if I would get most of them. I'm not getting carried away because I'm only in the last 16, but I am a danger."

O'Sullivan was philosophical about his defeat.

"Matthew played a good match and deserved his win. He's had a lean few years but he's a great player and has under-achieved," he said.

"It's unfortunate for me but that's snooker - you win some and lose some and have to accept the losses. It was a good crowd and a good atmosphere - I'm just disappointed to have lost."

Elsewhere, Mark Selby let a 3-1 lead slip before creeping over the line against Peter Ebdon 4-3, while Neil Robertson scraped through by the same score against Jamie Cope.

John Higgins and Belgian teenager Luca Brecel also progressed after coasting past Oliver Brown and Liang Wenbo respectively - both claiming 4-0 triumphs.