WST Pro Series snooker - Ronnie O'Sullivan unleashes break of 141, somehow loses best-of-three match

Updated 16/03/2021 at 15:09 GMT

The WST Pro Series certainly has a quirky format, and that was exemplified by the bizarre match between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ben Hancorn in Milton Keynes. The Rocket demonstrated the very best of his legendary talent as he raced through a quite magnificent break of 141, only to still somehow lose in the best-of-three match.

Ronnie O'Sullivan

Image credit: Getty Images

Ronnie O'Sullivan was involved in a truly bizarre match at the unusual 2021 WST Pro Series event on Monday.

The six-time world champion was in electric form as he produced a quite brilliant break of 141 against Ben Hancorn, but still somehow lost the best-of-three-frames match.

O'Sullivan was at his very best with the break, which came up just short of a magical 147, but lost 2-1 to Hancorn without hardly doing anything wrong in the Group I clash.

World Championship

'Every part of his game is really sharp' - White and McManus rave about O'Sullivan form

00:01:31

13 hours ago

Hancorn battled through the opening frame and ended up edging it, 59-46, before the Rocket's stunning break levelled up the match.

Then 71 points were enough for the 38-year-old from Bristol to secure a shock victory over O'Sullivan, despite his earlier brilliance.

The format at the event has ensured some shock wins and bizarre matches already, of which this is now the latest example.

While not a knockout punch for O'Sullivan, he now has work to do to progress.

What is the format?

The players have been split into 16 groups of eight for the initial round-robin phase. All matches are best-of-three frames, and the top two in each group will progress to the second group stage.

The second phase will feature 32 players split into four groups of eight, and the top two in each group will then progress.

The player who finishes top of the final group of eight players will be crowned the champion of the inaugural edition of the event.

Monday March 15 - Group I