O'Sullivan loses to Zhou in UK Championship first round

Ronnie O'Sullivan has now lost three tournament matches in a row

Eight-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan was knocked out of the UK Championship as he fell to a shock 6-4 first-round defeat by China's Zhou Yuelong on Tuesday at York Barbican.

O'Sullivan, who turns 50 on Friday, was playing his first match in a UK tournament since his 17-7 loss to Zhao Xintong in the semi-finals of the World Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield in May.

Despite making rapid and entertaining breaks of 71, 123, 62, 94, 65 and 56 against Zhou, O'Sullivan lost four frames on the black, including the seventh when he had led 64-0, only to lose it 65-64.

Zhou, 29th in the world rankings, was never behind and an excellent clearance of 125 took him one frame from victory at 5-3.

He led early in the ninth frame but could not seal the win. However, another chance soon came along.

O'Sullivan was 58-46 ahead in frame 10 but lost position when going from yellow to green and that enabled Zhou to clinch a superb victory.

Regarded by many as snooker's greatest ever player, Englishman O'Sullivan now lives in Dubai with his family and is far more selective about the events he plays in.

He had beaten 27-year-old Zhou in each of their previous seven meetings, but this result continues a great competition for China, with seven Chinese players in the last 16.

On table two, two-time UK champion Mark Selby was in superb form as he secured a 6-2 victory over Chinese qualifier Lei Peifan.

Selby made breaks of 51, 82, 75 and 133 to move 5-0 ahead, before Lei won two frames in a row to keep his hopes alive, but the Englishman took the eighth frame to set up a last-16 tie against Zhou.

Undecided on Masters, so where next for O'Sullivan?

Immediately after the match, O'Sullivan was asked if he would be playing in next month's Masters in London. That event starts on 11 January, with the draw taking place this Sunday.

O'Sullivan, who continues to play selected events in Asia and the Middle East, said: "I don't know, I've not made any decision - I will have to wait and see. I will have a nice Christmas and see how I feel in January.

"I still get disappointed if I lose if I play well and I probably wasn't the better player on the day. I did my best. Life is quite good, I'm just trying to enjoy working.

"I've enjoyed playing since the start of the season and feel I'm hitting the ball all right."

O'Sullivan's birthday on Friday is when the quarter-finals of the UK Championship will take place, but he says he will still watch the event on TV, as well as "going for a run and eating some nice food".

Three-time world champion Mark Williams feels the only way O'Sullivan will get back to winning ways is by playing more often.

Williams, who like O'Sullivan and John Higgins is part of snooker's fabled Class of 92, said on BBC Two: "The reason he is not winning as many tournaments as he has is he is not playing enough. For him to get back to winning consistently he has to play more, but when you are 50 it is hard to play in all the tournaments.

"His motivation is just winning. He loves to win the big events, and even though he has said he doesn't want to overtake Stephen Hendry's record at the World Championship [both Hendry and O'Sullivan are on seven titles], I think that's his main aim."

'Ronnie crowd bring atmosphere you don't get with any other player'

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the UK Championship in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2023

If O'Sullivan does not feature at the Masters, he may not play competitively in Britain again until either the Tour Championship in Manchester at the end of March or the World Championship in Sheffield in April.

Selby, who was on the other table while O'Sullivan was playing on Tuesday, felt the UK Championship would lose something from his exit.

"For me, it's always great when Ronnie is in a tournament - it has that extra vibe," said Selby. "Even just being in the same session, with the crowd you get that atmosphere which you don't get with any other player.

"He has given so much to the game and he still enjoys it so I hope he will keep playing. It would've been great to play Ronnie [in the last 16] but not to be."

For Zhou, beating O'Sullivan was a special moment after he had been inspired to play snooker because of 'The Rocket'.

"For my career it's a big win for me because of the opponent, Ronnie," said Zhou. "Before I had lost many times and every time I had played him I was so nervous.

"As a child I was watching him all the time on TV and I have so much respect for Ronnie. He is a great snooker player and has won the UK so many times. He is the king of the Barbican. To beat him here, I'm so proud of myself.

"I just wanted to put in a good performance and didn't want to lose 6-0 or 6-1 - I just wanted a close game."