'Bullied' O'Sullivan is shown door by Bingham

Ronnie O'Sullivan suffered a stunning 9-6 defeat to qualifier Stuart Bingham last night in the first round of the 12bet.com UK Championship.

The three-time former world champion looked to be fending off Bingham's threat when he moved from the overnight score of 4-4 to a 6-4 lead with breaks of 62 and 77.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However the 35-year-old, a day on from his birthday, then dropped five frames in a row to make his early exit.

Bingham did not even need to score heavily to take the frames, his highest break in the run being a modest 48 to O'Sullivan's paltry 24.

Bingham, 34, has caused shocks in the past, notably when he ousted defending champion Stephen Hendry from the World Championship at the first-round stage in 2000.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The world No 23 aimed a blast at O'Sullivan after his victory, accusing his fellow Essex cueman of being a player who displays a lack of good manners at the table.

He added: "We used to practise together, he would text me and ask if I wanted a game. But he hasn't texted me for nearly a year."

O'Sullivan admitted: "I was just second to the punch all day and felt as if I was being bullied around the table. I was second to Stuart in every department."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Hendry again proved to be Jimmy White's nemesis as the Scot won their battle of the veterans 9-8. Hendry, who beat White in four World Championship finals during the 1990s, trailed 8-7 against crowd favourite White but won back-to-back frames to save himself.

The 41-year-old five-time UK champion set up a second-round encounter with Welshman Mark Williams.

Williams converted a 6-2 overnight lead into a 9-3 victory over Mark Davis.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

World No 3 Ali Carter skidded to a surprise 9-6 defeat against England's Mark Joyce.

Hong Kong's Marco Fu produced a break of 138 in the 14th frame as he came from 7-6 down to beat Englishman Barry Hawkins 9-7.

Northern Ireland's Patrick Wallace was unable to make the most of a rare appearance at a major ranking event, losing 9-5 to Shaun Murphy.