Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out of the Scottish Open after suffering his first ever career loss to Gary Wilson in Edinburgh.
The Rocket began the week at the Meadowbank Sports Centre by recording his fastest ever century break and the second quickest behind Tony Drago during a 4-0 triumph over Bai Langning before beating Ben Woollaston 4-2 in the second round.
But his hopes of a 40th ranking title were ended on Wednesday evening as Wilson clinched a hard-fought 4-3 victory in which O'Sullivan struggled to find his A-game.
Wilson led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 thanks to breaks of 72, 83 and 82 before the seven-time world champion forced a decider with a crucial run of 52 in the sixth frame.
But after three previous career defeats against snooker's GOAT, Wilson finally came out on top with a fine break of 73.
O'Sullivan, who recently came under fire for refusing to acknowledge Judd Trump's 147 at the recent Champion of Champions event, was visibly impressed with his opponent's standard throughout the contest, with numerous nods of approval.
👏 Gary Wilson beats Ronnie O'Sullivan for the first time in his career thanks to some great shots like this.
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) November 30, 2022
The Rocket's wait for a 40th ranking title goes on...pic.twitter.com/A4y5mzZ26U
Fantastic sportsmanship from @ronnieo147 👏#ScottishOpen | #HomeNations pic.twitter.com/echOZhQkNq
— Eurosport (@eurosport) November 30, 2022
Earlier, home hero John Higgins rallied from 3-2 down to beat China’s Cao Yupeng 4-3 and keep alive his hopes of winning Stephen Hendry Trophy for the first time in his career.
Higgins has been been runner-up on two occasions, losing in 2016 to Marco Fu and in 2021 to Luca Brecel - both by 9-5 scorelines.
Breaks of 72 and 73 gave four-time world champion an early 2-0 lead before Cao hit back with three consecutive frames to move one from victory at 3-2. Higgins, whose last added to his haul of 31 ranking titles at the 2021 Players Championship dug deep and forced a decider with a contribution of 70 and a break of 55 in the final frame saw him over the line a 4-3 victor. He plays Welshman Jamie Jones in the last 32.
Higgins said: “I’m delighted I won, but I don’t know how I won. I don’t normally complain, but I put a new tip on and I was all over the place. I’ve left it too big.
“My oldest son was here today. He was giving me the pep talk in the car, it didn’t really do me too much good. I’m only joking, it was good to have a bit of company.”
Recently crowned UK Champion Mark Allen booked his progression thanks to a 4-2 victory over former German Masters winner Martin Gould.
Allen is aiming to become only the fifth player to win three successive ranking tournaments, following his UK title and victory at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open. The Antrim cueman top scored with 132 and faces Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the next round.
