Fan gets a Rocket as it’s sit & miss for Ronnie
Rocket can’t stand it as he falls to Irish defeat
SULKY Ronnie O’Sullivan crashed out of the Northern Ireland Open after telling fans to “sit down” midway through the Rocket’s 4-3 defeat to Masters Champion Yan Bingtao.
It capped a fractious week for Englishman at the Waterfront Hall, having criticised the lack of atmosphere at the Belfast venue before feeling the need to clarify that his complaint had not been aimed at fans.
However, O’Sullivan’s frustration got the better of him during the third frame against the Chinese player when he paused midway through a break of 129 to urge fans to keep to their seats.
His complaint prompted the referee to instruct stewards not to let fans enter the auditorium mid-frame during the best-ofseven match.
The 21-yearold Yan nudged in front for the first time at 3-2 but O’Sullivan hit back from the brink when he erased a 71-point deficit in the following frame to take the match into a decider. Both players had their chances to claim victory and ultimately it was two costly errors from O’Sullivan that ended his hopes of returning to the final for a fourth straight year. Bingtao was shocked after the win as he didn’t expect to topple a legend of the game. The
Chinese ace said: “I’m very happy because it was a very surprising victory.”
Yan now faces England’s Mitchell Mann who progressed by beating another Chinese player, Lyu Haotian, 4-1.
Meanwhile, relieved John Higgins kept his Northern Ireland Open title hopes alive by the skin of his teeth.
Scotland’s four-time world champion was staring down the barrel of a painful whitewash at 3-0 behind to old adversary Mark Williams in their 40th meeting at ranking event level.
But the Wishaw Wizard conjured up a magical comeback to book his quarter-final spot with a battling 4-3 victory at the Waterfront Hall.
Higgins, who lost 18-16 to veteran Welshman Williams in their classic 2018 World Championship final at the Crucible, said: “I’m absolutely delighted after being one ball away at 3-0 down. “You have to try and concentrate which is hard because the nerves are kicking in.
“I’m proud of the way I handled the pressure to make the clearance for the decider then it’s anybody’s.
“Mark will be absolutely kicking himself because everything started going for me and against Mark.”
Higgins showed his vintage class as he made three centuries in the last round.
But that fantastic form deserted him as Williams, who almost didn’t travel to the event due to a bout of gout, hit breaks of 69 and 63 to all but reach the last eight.
However, Higgins dug deep to keep himself in the hunt for the £70,000 top prize with 56 and 110 runs.
Fellow Scot Stephen Maguire missed out on a place in the last eight. Despite coming from 3-1 down to level, he lost 4-3 to home favourite Mark Allen.
He now faces world No.1 Judd Trump, who edged past Jimmy Robertson by the same scoreline.