O’Sullivan’s hopes of £1m jackpot ended

Ronnie O’Sullivan saw his hopes of snooker’s first £1 million jackpot end with a shock defeat at the Northern Ireland Open to world number 82 Elliot Slessor.

Victory at the Dafabet English Open last month set up the possibility of the 41-year-old completing a clean sweep of the four ‘Home Nations’ events, for which the seven-figure bonus cheque was on offer.

But a 4-1 loss to Gatesheadborn Slessor in the third round in Belfast killed off the prospect of O’Sullivan landing the richest prize the sport has ever offered.

Slessor’s biggest career scalp came hours after he checked out of his hotel, half-expecting to lose.

O’Sullivan has claimed the tour’s lower reaches are populated by “numpties”, but Slessor said: “I know everybody can play on their day. As Ronnie says ... there’s not as many numpties as he probably thinks there is.”

There were also third-round wins for Ricky Walden, Ryan Day, Joe Perry and Robert Milkins, who beat former world champion Neil Robertson.

However, casualties included Ken Doherty and Jimmy White.

Scottish players also suffered, with Anthony McGill losing 4-3 to Li Yuan of China, Ross Muir falling by the same margin to David Gilbert of England, and John Higgins losing a final-frame decider to England’s Gary Wilson.