Snooker: Outsider knocks O'Sullivan out of English Open
Ronnie O'Sullivan suffered a surprise 4-3 defeat by the unheralded Chris Wakelin in the English Open
LONDON (AFP) - Five-time world champion Ronnie O Sullivan suffered a surprise 4-3 defeat by the unheralded Chris Wakelin in the English Open in Manchester on Thursday.
The all-English encounter saw Wakelin, ranked 70th in the world, make a break of 46 in the deciding frame but a missed black off the spot gave O Sullivan a chance to snatch the match.
But O Sullivan could not capitalise and Wakelin took the frame 69-7.
"I m very relieved in the end, I had several chances to get over the line," Wakelin told Eurosport. "When I missed the pink at 3-2 I feared the worst.
"You don t get many chances against any of the top players, but in the last frame there were a couple of points where I thought you are throwing this away, Chris .
"I had a nightmare season last year and never got past the second round so I m delighted to get into the last 16."
Wakelin will play either Australia s former world champion Neil Robertson or China s Xiao Guodong in the last 16 later on Thursday.
