Ronnie O’Sullivan in action against Mark Allen at the Wembley Arena in London on Tuesday. SD-Agencies
MERCURIAL snooker talent Ronnie O’Sullivan suffered his second successive first-round defeat at the Wembley Arena in London on Tuesday when he lost 6-4 to Northern Ireland’s world championships semifinalist Mark Allen.
O’Sullivan, who exited last month’s U.K. Championship in the first round, had looked to have enough fight in him to pull off victory after he clawed his way back from 4-2 down to level at 4-4 in the best-of-11-frame clash.
However, Allen won the next frame with a wonderful clearance of 87 before edging 25-year-old O’Sullivan in the 10th to claim his place in the second round of the sport’s most prestigious invitational event.
The 24-year-old Ulsterman will play either Australia’s world champion Neil Robertson or out-of-form former world champion Stephen Hendry, who meet in a later match.
O’Sullivan, as become increasingly typical, played some erratic almost disinterested snooker. He conceded that the better player had prevailed, though and insisted he wasn’t concerned about his poor results.
“All credit to Mark,” O’Sullivan, the four-time Masters champion, told BBC Sport.
“He played a strong game and put me under pressure.
“He’s had a good season so I was up against it. I missed a few balls. I’m not concerned about my form — obviously it’s disappointing to lose in two big tournaments early in the season.”
The “Rocket” follows defending champion Mark Selby, former world champion John Higgins and world number three Mark Williams in making a first-round exit here this week.(SD-Agencies)
Source:大运官网 | Editer:王佳