KA WAI CHEUNG BEATS RONNIE O'SULLIVAN AT NORTHERN IRELAND OPEN

Ka Wai Cheung beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-3 in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open at Belfast's Waterfront Hall on Monday. The Hong Kong qualifier, ranked 110th in the world, took the opening frame before O'Sullivan won three in succession. Cheung then won the final three frames to claim his first victory in a main-draw knockout match at a ranking event. O'Sullivan, ranked 13th, had reached the Northern Ireland Open final three times. Cheung said: “I'm very happy that I can still play well under pressure.”

O'Sullivan was making his first appearance at the tournament since 2022 and his first in a Home Nations event since the 2024 English Open. He had not played in a UK tournament since losing 13-12 to John Higgins in the second round of April's World Championship. Cheung said he was “actually scared a little bit before the match” because so many spectators supported O'Sullivan. He described playing in that atmosphere as “the best experience” for him. O'Sullivan became the eighth top-16 player eliminated among the nine who had played at the Waterfront Hall by that stage.

Cheung will face Stuart Bingham for a place in the last 16. Judd Trump later lost 4-3 to Martin O'Donnell, who recorded his first win over Trump. O'Donnell, ranked 56th, led three times before winning the deciding frame; Trump made breaks of 91, 94 and 52. Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Xiao Guodong, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter exited on Sunday, while Chris Wakelin and Barry Hawkins also went out on Monday. Hawkins lost 4-2 to Daniel Wells, and Kyren Wilson beat Ben Mertens 4-0.