Ronnie O’Sullivan has been eliminated from the World Snooker Championship in a major quarter-final upset at the Crucible.
The defending champion surrendered a 10-6 overnight lead against Belgian Luca Brecel in Wednesday’s afternoon session in Sheffield, dropping seven successive frames as he was defeated 13-10 in the best-of-25 contest.
A shock loss ends O’Sullivan’s hopes for this year of moving clear of fellow cue icon Stephen Hendry as the only eight-time world champion in snooker’s modern era.
‘The Rocket’, who tied Hendry with his seventh world title in 2022, told the BBC: "I didn't put up any resistance but you've still got to pot the balls and he played unbelievable. I wasn't playing well enough to have any impact on the game.
"If it was a boxing match they would have stopped it very early on. I was just pinching frames and hanging on.
"There's only so much hanging on you can do at the Crucible. It catches up with you at some point, and someone will eventually put you away."
Brecel, who had never previously been beyond the first round at the Crucible, will face Anthony McGill or Si Jiahui in the semi-finals having also seen off Mark Williams in the last-16.
Brecel, winner of two major rankings tournaments - the 2021 Scottish Open and 2022 Championship League - immediately imposed himself on O'Sullivan after both players had opportunities to win a scrappy initial frame.
O'Sullivan then inexplicably missed a black off its spot and Brecel split the pack of reds to take advantage with a 112 clearance.
The next frame followed the same pattern as O'Sullivan, stretching over a long red, let in Brecel again.
Brecel capitalised with a 64 break and, although he missed a red that would have left O'Sullivan requiring a snooker, he eventually reduced arrears to 10-9.
The scores were level when O'Sullivan lost position again and Brecel got among the balls for a 72 break.
O'Sullivan was in desperate need of the interval, but contributions of 61, 78 and 63 ended the contest in quick fashion and put the 47-year-old out of his misery.
"He played unbelievable," O'Sullivan said. "He's such a good player, I love watching him play.
"His cue action, he gets through the ball so well. It's incredible. The whip he gets on the white, the top spin, the thud he hits the ball with.
"He's such a dynamic player, probably the most talented snooker player I've ever seen.
"I'd love to see him go and win it because that's how snooker should be played. He's a phenomenal talent and player."
