Ronnie O'Sullivan suffers shock defeat to Lyu Haotian in Wuhan Open 2023 quarters to reach fifth ranking semi-final
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Updated 13/10/2023 at 21:07 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan was sensationally knocked out by Lyu Haotian in the Wuhan Open quarter-finals after a comprehensive 5-1 defeat. O'Sullivan has now failed to reach the semi-finals of a ranking event since the 2022 World Championship, and his world No. 1 ranking is now under threat. Haotian will face Ali Carter in the last four on Saturday afternoon.
'One of his best career wins' - Haotian seals 'comfortable' victory over O'Sullivan
Lyu Haotian progressed through to his fifth ranking semi-final with a stunning 5-1 win over Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Wuhan Open.
Lyu made the perfect start after O'Sullivan's attempted safety shot went awry, leaving the Chinese player in a perfect position on the brown. He potted that with aplomb and progressed onto the pink to edge out a keenly-contested opening frame, before going onto double his advantage at the end of another safety battle.
The Chinese player rattled in the last red and followed that up with the yellow, before brilliantly making a clearance to the pink, leaving The Rocket on the ropes.
The third frame was even more remarkable, as Lyu extended his lead in stunning fashion after O'Sullivan threw away a 52-0 lead after ruthlessly exploiting a rare error from the world No. 1.
He missed an awkward-looking red, and the 25-year-old seized his opportunity to erode into The Rocket's lead, which Lyu did so with brilliant precision.
After progressing nicely onto the colours, he downed the blue to seal frame three and moved 3-0 in front.
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'A big upset brewing' - Haotian wins third straight frame against O'Sullivan
Lyu was motoring towards a 4-0 lead after landing a long red, and needed to pot three more reds and the colours to move within one frame of victory.
O'Sullivan would fail to pot a red into the corner pocket as Lyu knocked this in to leave his star opponent needing snookers to extend the frame.
But it was not to be, and the Chinese player's break of 66 was enough to increase his lead and leave a stunning result within touching distance.
The Rocket showed a glimpse of his best form to reduce the deficit with a brilliant clearance of 101, and his fans inside the Wuhan Gymnasium, were hoping this was the start of a memorable comeback.
They were left disappointed, though, as O’Sullivan could only watch Lyu complete one of the biggest wins of his career.
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O'Sullivan falls four frames behind to Haotian
He would win the frame after potting the final red on the table, leaving the colours to progress into the last four.
Lyu will face the winner from Mark Allen and Ali Carter’s quarter-final match in a last-four encounter on Saturday.
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