Snooker news - O'Sullivan, Selby and Ding lose, Noppon 147, Robertson, Bingham, Higgins through
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ByEurosport
Updated 15/02/2019 at 15:59 GMT
Alexander Ursenbacher produced an enormous upset at the Welsh Open as he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2 in a scrappy match in Cardiff.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Image credit: Getty Images
And Thailand's world number 29 Noppon Saengkham compiled a brilliant 147 maximum break in his last-32 match with world number one Mark Selby to level up the match at 1-1, but it was not enough to halt Selby's charge into the last 16 with the Leicester player making 107, 54 and 115 to progress.
Noppon's knock was the 149th maximum in snooker history, and comes only two days after Australia's 2010 world champion Neil Robertson produced a 147 in his first-round match with Jordan Brown.
It means Robertson will have to share the £17,000 he was in line to pick up for top break and maximum break prize.
Robertson was the first man into the quarter-finals. He overcame Paul S Davison 4-3 in the last 32 before drubbing Michael Georgiou 4-0 on the main table boosted by breaks of 79, 75 and 62.
2015 world champion Stuart Bingham trailed 2-1 to Robbie Williams, who ran in knocks of 60 and 102 for a 2-1 advantage.
But Bingham raised his levels in quite superb fashion as three straight centuries of 128, 103 and 124 saw him progress. He will face Zhao Xintong, who toppled O'Sullivan's conqueror Ursenbacher with a 4-2 win courtesy of breaks of 104, 73, 56 and 86.
Earlier, O'Sullivan had produced a brilliant century in the opening frame against Ursenbacher to assume apparent control of the match early on with a 118 break.
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'Back to serious business' - O'Sullivan produces 994th century
But the Swiss player responded in hugely-impressive fashion to hit back and, after faltering several times when 3-2 up, closed out a nervy win.
“I didn’t expect to beat him, though I knew it was possible if I took my chances. I’m feeling good!” said Ursenbacher.
It’s my biggest win. If you play well then the wins come automatically. I’m full of confidence now but I won’t go any further if I don’t concentrate on each ball.
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O’Sullivan misses crucial yellow as he crashes out in Cardiff
The 22-year-old, who is ranked at number 72 in the world, showed remarkable composure as O'Sullivan repeatedly slipped up after securing his 994th career century.
O'Sullivan's only break of note after the opening frame was 63 in the third, with his Swiss opponent afforded a number of key reprieves.
Ursenbacher produced breaks of 70, 52 and 57 before compiling 62 points to close out the match in a bizarre and fragmented sixth and final frame.
Ding Junhui's hopes were ended in the last 16 by world number 102 Joe O'Connor, whose 93 in the second frame was the highlight of his win.
But defending champion John Higgins - chasing a record sixth title at the Welsh - battled through to the quarter-finals with a 4-3 victory over Jack Lisowski.
Higgins led 3-2 despite Lisowski running in a 134 and 115 in the second and fourth frames, but Higgins kept his cool to produce a clinical match-winning 71 after his opponent had sqaundered two obvious chances in the seventh frame.
And in the last match to finish on Thursday there was another shock as Hossein Vafaei won a dramatic decider to beat world number one Mark Selby 4-3.
Vafaei had taken the first frame of the match only for Selby to respond with a brilliant break of 135.
However, he was unable to put the match away at 3-2 and Vafaei forced a final frame that he eventually won.
Quarter-final draw
- John Higgins v Joe O'Connor
- Stuart Bingham v Zhao Xintong
- Hossein Vafaei v Scott Donaldson
- Neil Robertson v Kurt Maflin
Last-16 results
- John Higgins 4-3 Jack Lisowski
- Ding Junhui 1-4 Joe O'Connor
- Robbie Williams 2-4 Stuart Bingham
- Zhao Xintong 4-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
- Mark Selby 3-4 Hossein Vafaei
- Scott Donaldson 4-2 Ian Burns
- Michael Georgiou 0-4 Neil Robertson
- Kurt Maflin 4-2 Elliott Slessor
Third-round results (best of seven frames)
- John Higgins 4-2 Craig Steadman
- Jack Lisowski 4-3 Sam Craigie
- Ding Junhui 4-2 Joe Perry
- Joe O'Connor 4-1 Jak Jones
- Robbie Williams 4-0 Duane Jones
- Stuart Bingham 4-1 Martin O'Donnell
- Zhao Xintong 4-2 Jimmy Robertson
- Kurt Maflin 4-0 Mike Dunn
- Alexander Ursenbacher 4-2 Ronnie O'Sullivan
- Hossein Vafaei 4- 2 Lukas Kleckers
- Scott Donaldson 4-0 James Cahill
- Ian Burns 4-2 Mark Allen
- Barry Hawkins 2-4 Michael Georgiou
- Neil Robertson 4-3 Paul S Davison
- Elliot Slessor 4-2 Zhang Anda
- Mike Dunn 0-4 Kurt Maflin
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