RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has crashed out of the World Snooker Championship in the semi-final following a 7-17 defeat to Zhao Xintong.
O’Sullivan was unable to book his spot in yet another Crucible final and will have to wait even longer to better Stephen Hendry‘s mark of seven World Snooker Championships.
ReutersRonnie O’Sullivan has crashed out of the World Snooker Championship[/caption]
ReutersZhao Xintong toppled the Rocket in the semi-final[/caption]
The Rocket, 49, was well beaten by amateur Zhao, who is fresh off the back of a 20-month suspension as one of 10 players caught up in a match-fixing sting.
O’Sullivan’s involvement in the tournament was a surprise to many after skipping out on five of events on medical grounds in 2025.
But he looked back to his best when he breezed past Si Jiahui, Junxu Pang and old foe Ali Carter to get to the semi-finals on his record 33rd consecutive year at the Worlds.
Nobody was more surprised than O’Sullivan himself, who with a brand new cue in hand had labelled his own game as “awful”, comparing himself to swan.
And perhaps that perception of his form caught up with him against Zhao, as the Chinese cueist ran riot in Friday’s sessions to win with a session to spare.
With the scores tied at four-a-piece O’Sullivan made the unbelievable decision to change the tip of his cue MID MATCH.
On his return to the table, Zhao won ALL EIGHT frames, stunning the Crucible crowd in Sheffield.
The evening session was better contested, but Zhao’s stranglehold on the match from the earlier battles proved too big of a gap for O’Sullivan to fight back against.
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The 28-year-old will now take on the winner of Judd Trump vs Mark Williams in the final on Sunday.
The Chinese Cyclone only returned to the amateur circuit last September after serving a 20-month suspension as one of 10 players caught up in a match-fixing sting.
Zhao was punished for betting on results over a three-year period and also being a party to another player fixing two snooker matches.
Yet he did not fix a match himself and was given a lighter sentence than the other offenders for early admissions and his plea of guilty.
O’Sullivan was hailed for being “gracious” in defeat after he shared a congratulatory handshake with Zhao at the end of the match.
While Zhao took a moment to raise his hands and applaud O’Sullivan to the Crucible audience in a moment described as “lovely scenes” by the commentary team.
TNT SPORTSO’Sullivan shared a gracious moment with Zhao after the match[/caption]
TNT SPORTSZhao applauded O’Sullivan to the crowd[/caption]
World Snooker Championship 2025
WE are BACK at the Crucible for another thrilling fortnight of snooker action!
There will be a new champion this year after reigning champ Kyren Wilson crashed out in the first round after a stunning performance from Lei Peifan.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is eyeing a record EIGHTH World Snooker Championship crown, while World No 1 Judd Trump remains the tournament favourite.
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