Ronnie O’Sullivan forced to change birthday plans after first-round shock

Ronnie O’Sullivan won’t be enjoying the 50th birthday he had hoped for after being knocked out of the UK Championship.

‘The Rocket’, who turns 50 on Friday, suffered a shock 6-4 defeat at the hands of China’s Zhou Yuelong in the first round of the Triple Crown event.

Getty

What happened in Ronnie O’Sullivan’s opening match?

Heading into his opening contest in York, O’Sullivan held a 7-0 head-to-head record over his opponent, with three of those wins coming in the UK Championship.

The sporting icon was playing in his first UK event since losing to Zhao Xintong in the semi-finals of the World Championship in May.

And despite his lack of recent tournament experience on home turf, O’Sullivan held his own in the opening period.

Zhou claimed a close first two frames to take an early lead, but the seven-time world champion then hit back with breaks of 71 and 123 to level up at the interval.

O’Sullivan kept up his scoring with 62 in the fifth, only for Zhou to pinch it, before the Englishman made 94 to pull level at 3-3.

Things then took a turn for the worse for the home favourite, as his 27-year-old opponent recovered from 64-0 to steal the seventh frame 65-64, before hitting a magnificent 125 in the eighth.

Zhou then held his nerve to sink the required colours to bounce back from 58-46 down in the 10th frame and claim the match.

The Chinese star will now advance into the competition’s last 16, where he is one of seven players from his country in the draw, and will face two-time UK Champion Mark Selby.

As for O’Sullivan, this was his second successive first round defeat at the UK Championship, having lost to Barry Hawkins in his opener last year.

Adding insult to injury, his ranking trophy drought extended to nearly two years with his first-round exit.

Getty

O’Sullivan last won a ranking title came at the World Grand Prix in January 2024, where he triumphed over Judd Trump in the final.

Birthday blues

Had he advanced in his first-round encounter, O’Sullivan would have been looking the prospect of a mouth-watering clash on his 50th birthday.

The snooker great brings up his half century on December 5, when the quarter finals are scheduled to take place.

But after seeing his hopes of glory ended, O’Sullivan admitted his celebrations are now looking somewhat muted.

When asked how he planned to mark the occasion following his elimination, he said: “My plans now? I’ll be gone tonight.

“I’ll definitely watch the tournament, absolutely. I’ll get to Ireland (on Wednesday) and sit and watch it on the telly. I do enjoy watching it.

“On my birthday, I’ll probably go for a run, eat some nice food, watch some snooker. Go to the gym. Pretty boring, really.

“It feels alright to lose. It feels good in some ways and not so good in other ways.

“As you get older, you probably worry a bit less about the stuff you used to worry about. Now, you just try and enjoy your life.”

Despite remaining upbeat, O’Sullivan admitted his performance against Zhou had fallen short of his usual high standards.

He continued: “I’m still disappointed if I lose.

“If I play well and lose, I get even more disappointed, but if I don’t feel well and lose, I just accept it wasn’t my day.

Getty

“I’m just here to play snooker and try my best and try to enjoy life.

“I missed quite a lot of balls. I didn’t deserve to win. I don’t think the tables are nippy but if you don’t hit them right, they won’t go in.

“That was a bit of a ropey performance, I’m not going to shy away from that.”

It remains to be seen when O’Sullivan, who is based in Dubai, will next feature at a UK tournament, having recently hinted he could miss the upcoming UK Masters in January.