Ronnie O’Sullivan was knocked out in the opening round of the 2024 Champion of Champions tournament in Bolton by China’s Xiao Guodong.
O’Sullivan, 48, a four-time winner of the event, had taken a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven-frames match, only to lose 4-3 after a superb comeback from Xiao.
Breaks of 95 and 125 in frames two and three respectively had seven-time world champion O’Sullivan on course to reach Thursday’s quarter-final at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
But Xiao produced breaks of 130, 88 and 85 before winning the final frame 64-35.
He will face the winner of the last-16 match between Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals.
It is O’Sullivan’s second consecutive defeat. Last week, he was knocked out of the 2024 International Championship by Pang Junxu, also from China, at the last-32 stage.