Ronnie sits and watches as Neil stands tall
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN crashed to a 4-1 defeat to Neil Robertson in the second round of the Ladbrokes World Grand Prix i n Preston.
The Australian raced into a 2-0 lead following two half-century breaks of 80 and 70, with O’Sullivan rarely getting a chance to leave his seat.
The two were not at their fluent best in the next, both missing feasible shots, but Robertson came out on top to nudge into a 3-0 lead thanks to a score of 43 to finish the third frame.
Robertson, the world No.7, put himself in a commanding position in the fourth to go 53-11 up but O’Sullivan fought back to need just the pink to take his first frame.
A tactical battle ensued with the remaining pink and black, O’Sullivan eventually prevailing to earn a lifeline, but that remained short-lived as Robertson rat- tled off an 83-break to reach the last eight.
World No.4 Judd Trump fell at the second hurdle following a 4-1 defeat to Barry Hawkins, who will play Robertson for a place in the semi-finals.
Hawkins opened the match by taking the first frame courtesy of a break of 64 and followed that up with a run of 86 in the next before Trump replied with the only century break of the match to make it 2-1.
The Ditton potter re- sponded with another two half-century breaks of 73 and 72 to secure his place in the quarter-finals of a ranking event for a second successive time.
Liang Wenbo held his nerve to book his place in the quarter-finals following a final-frame 4-3 victory over Mark Allen.
The Masters 2017 runners-up Joe Perry also needed a deciding frame to overcome Martin Gould in a 4-3 win and earn his place in the last eight.
BASKETBALL Hayden Lescault insists Glasgow Rocks haven’t pushed the panic button despite losing control of their own BBL title destiny.
After a damaging defeat to leaders Leicester Riders last weekend, the team’s defensive scheme has come under scrutiny.
But with a tough doubleheader on the road at Bristol and Plymouth coming up, Lescault believes it’s not the time for radical changes, believing it was just a “lapse”.