Judd Trump suffered an unhappy birthday by crashing out of the British Open and losing his world number one spot to Mark Selby, as Ali Carter later hit a 147.
Trump lost 3-2 to Elliot Slessor on his 32nd birthday and his failure to make the quarter-finals in Leicester cost him top spot in the world snooker rankings.
“There’s nothing I can do,” Trump told ITV4 after his defeat in the round of 32 to world number 49 Slessor.
“I’ve won enough tournaments to be world number one. There’s only so many tournaments you can win. I’ve won 11 in the last two years and I’m not number one, so hard lines.”
Trump continued his criticism of the tables at the Morningside Arena after managing a top break of only 33 against Slessor.
He said: “It was a scrappy game. I couldn’t really get any rhythm going and it was tough in the end. I said it from the first game I struggled with the table. I thought it was very heavy from the start.
“I’ve watched a lot of the games and they’ve been very scrappy. You’re just battling to get through to the quarter-finals, where it goes to the best of seven and a new cloth on the table. I think you’ll see the top players produce then.”
Slessor went on to defeat Ali Carter 3-1 in the last 16 on Friday evening to reach the quarter-finals despite 'The Captain' hitting a maximum break in the second frame.
It was the second 147 of the tournament after John Higgins also registered a perfect frame in his first-round victory over Alexander Ursenbacher.
Jimmy Robertson claimed his place in the last eight by beating Stephen Maguire 3-0, while Ricky Walden - who earlier beat Higgins in the last 32 - saw off Scottish amateur Ross Muir 3-1.
Mark Williams is the only top-16 player left in the quarter-finals - following the exits of Higgins, Trump and Maguire - after he came from 2-1 down to beat China's Zhang Jiankang 3-2.
Dave Gilbert, who won the recent Championship League, cruised past Hammad Miah 3-0, while China's Zhou Yuelong edged past home favourite Joe O'Connor 3-2.
Lukas Kleckers, the first German in history to reach the last 16 of a ranking tournament, lost 3-0 to Lu Ning.
British Open quarter-final draw
Lu Ning v Jimmy Robertson
Zhou Yuelong v Elliot Slessor
Mark Williams v Ricky Walden
David Gilbert v Gary Wilson
