Venue: The Newport Centre Date 16-22 February
Coverage: Live on BBC Red Button and BBC website; reports on BBC website

O'Sullivan surrendered a 3-1 lead to lose to Fu

Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out of the Welsh Open after a 5-3 defeat by Hong Kong's Marco Fu in the second round.

The world number one surrendered a 3-1 lead after a series of errors allowed Fu to rattle in four frames in a row following the mid-session interval.

John Higgins was also knocked out after Australian Neil Robertson defeated the Scot in a dramatic final frame decider to take the match 5-4.

Robertson will now face Fu in the surprise quarter-final line-up.

UK Champion Shaun Murphy rattled in two centuries in the first two frames of his last-16 clash against Mark King.

Murphy never looked like surrendering his lead and wrapped up a comfortable 5-2 victory.

606: DEBATE I doubt Ronnie will be too worried, although there will be more pressure on him to perform at the Worlds Jas0999

Ali Carter and Graeme Dott were finally separated in the deciding ninth frame and it was Carter who took the match 5-4 to set up a quarter-final with Murphy.

Stephen Maguire produced a miraculous escape to defeat Ding Junhui 5-4, after the Chinese player had led 4-2 and romped into a 69-point lead in frame seven.

But Maguire stormed back with a break of 71 to take the frame before breaks of 65 and 75 sent him through to a quarter-final showdown with Northern Ireland's Joe Swail.

And Anthony Hamilton scored a 136 break as he took the last three frames in a row to claim a commanding 5-2 win over Michael Judge, Hamilton will now face Mark Selby in the last eight.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version