Friday, 2 January 2009

O'Sullivan crashes out at Grand Prix

World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix after losing 5-4 to teenager Judd Trump in a tense quarter-final.

Trump, 19, won the first two frames but O'Sullivan took a 3-2 lead, going in front with a break of 104 in the fifth.

Trump, who will now play John Higgins, levelled on the final pink and while the next two frames were shared, the youngster edged through.

Ali Carter beat Steve Davis 5-3 to progress, while Ryan Day also advanced.

Higgins beat Ding Junhui 5-3 to claim a semi-final against Judd.

Ding took a 2-1 lead but two-time former world champion Higgins levelled with a break of 71.

A frame apiece made it 3-3 but Higgins edged ahead once more before claiming the final frame with a break of 71.

I'm awful but it still doesn't stop me trying

Ronnie O'Sullivan on his present form

Day lost the first frame against Jamie Cope, but took the next five against his out-of-sorts opponent to progress.

The Welshman, who has yet to win a ranking event, fired in breaks of 129, 112, 85 and 74 to take the last four frames, Cope scoring just 56 points in reply.

Earlier, Trump, who comes from Bristol, put on a fabulous show considering the qualifier was competing in his first quarter-final in a ranking event.

"It feels brilliant to have beaten (O'Sullivan), it's the biggest win of my career by a mile," said Trump, ranked 41 in the world.

"We both struggled, but I went out there to win and I got the job done. I had chances to win 5-3 and I didn't take them, so I was glad I got another chance to win the match."

O'Sullivan, who has complained about his poor form all week, added: "I've not seen a lot of him, but he's obviously dangerous.

"He's young and he's hungry for success, but I don't want to say he's great because he's only young, he's not been on the snooker scene that long."

On his own showing O'Sullivan said: "I can't pot a ball over six foot at the moment, I have to really struggle. I'm awful, but it still doesn't stop me trying."

Having clawed his way back into the contest, Trump blew several chances to claim victory in the eighth frame and his nerves looked likely to hinder his progress.

However, it was the world champion who struggled in the final stages and a missed red to the middle pocket decided the match.

In the other afternoon's quarter-final, Davis and Carter were close to the day's second final frame decider, but Carter's early fluke in the eighth set him up for a match-winning 99.

Davis had started brightly with breaks of 43 and 42 to take the opener, but Carter bounced back to take the next three frames.

Former world champion Davis exhibited his phenomenal safety play in the fifth but Carter just edged it to get within one frame of the finishing line.

Despite a great fightback for Davis to make it 4-3, the Glasgow crowd was denied a dramatic final frame thanks to Carter's lucky red and break to ensure his impressive victory.

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