International Championship 2024: Ronnie O'Sullivan crashes out to Pang Junxu, John Higgins thrashes Matthew Stevens
Updated 05/11/2024 at 15:21 GMT
Pang Junxu beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-4 to move into the last 16 of the International Championship in Nanjing, setting up a tie with Jackson Page in the fourth round. O'Sullivan went behind in the first frame of the match, and from there, Pang made sure he never fell behind to the seven-time world champion. Elsewhere, John Higgins was amongst the other winners.
'Stunning clearance!' - O'Sullivan shows class to win tight frame
Video credit: TNT Sports
Pang Junxu produced an inspired performance to knock Ronnie O'Sullivan out of the International Championship, with a 6-4 victory in the third round in Nanjing.
Playing in front of his home crowd, the world No. 26 went in front from the start, and although his illustrious opponent kept coming back into the match, the Chinese player never went behind.
O'Sullivan had clawed the match back to 4-4 from 4-2 down, but century breaks from Pang in the ninth and 10th frames set him up to seal the win and secure a last-16 meeting with Jackson Page, who beat Ali Carter 6-4.
Much like his second-round win over He Guoqiang, O'Sullivan made a slow start and went a frame down before recovering with a break of 81 in the second to level the match.
'The Rocket' looked to be winning the battle of snookers in the middle of the third, but a small mistake gave Pang an opening and he did not waste it, taking it 78-12 to go back in front.
But O'Sullivan responded in typical fashion, producing a confident break of 83 to bring the scores level once again.
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After a brief interval, O'Sullivan returned to the table looking to go in front for the first time, but after leaving a red on the lip of a right corner, Pang recorded his highest break of the match - 85 - to nudge ahead once again.
O'Sullivan went 59 points up in the sixth frame but a missed red allowed Pang a chance to counter-attack. The 24-year-old took full advantage with a masterful clearance of the table to increase his advantage to 4-2.
After a game of cat and mouse at the start of the seventh, Pang made a poor escape from behind the green and it allowed O'Sullivan to build a 37-point advantage before missing a blue.
Pang pulled 15 back but an error allowed his opponent back on to the table and O'Sullivan made no mistake to cut the lead.
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Fluke of the tournament? Trump benefits from huge stroke of luck
Video credit: TNT Sports
The seven-time world champion had an unfortunate moment when building a lead in the eighth frame, potting both the black and a red, but a mistake from Pang gave O'Sullivan another chance, which he blew.
The Chinese player missed his own chance to see out the frame and this time O'Sullivan took his opportunity to level the match at 4-4.
Pang responded in emphatic fashion, easily sealing the frame before setting off on an effort to achieve a maximum. That ultimately failed but a huge break of 120 put him a frame away from victory.
The hot streak continued in the 10th, securing another century break to earn one of the best wins of his career.
Elsewhere, Judd Trump had to fight back from 4-2 down to beat Joe O'Connor, reeling off four straight frames - only one of which included a half century - to win 6-4.
John Higgins wasted little time in progressing, thrashing Matthew Stevens 6-1, Mark Selby got past Noppon Saengkham 6-3, while Shaun Murphy was knocked out by Chris Wakelin, losing 6-3.
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