Ronnie O'Sullivan Whitewashed By Ding Junhui At UK Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan saw his bid for an eighth UK Championship success ended in humiliating fashion by Ding Junhui on Friday. 

The Rocket was whitewashed 6-0 by three-time winner Ding at the Barbican Centre in York – the first time the world No1 has ever been kept off the scoreboard in the sport’s three major tournaments. 

Reigning and seven-time world champion O’Sullivan, who turns 47 in a fortnight, was crushed in the quarter-finals by rejuvenated world No38 Ding who last beat him in this event three years ago en route to the title.  

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That was the last of Ding’s 14 ranking title, and he had lost his previous seven encounters with O’Sullivan. 

O’Sullivan tried to shrug off the unprecedented nature of the defeat – and heaped praise on Ding. He said: “Today was one of those days. But it’s really going to ruin my career that one, isn’t it? 

“I have been at this game for 30 years and taken a few knocks along the way. It doesn’t matter – it is all icing these days. 

“Ding played fantastically well, and I wish he could play like that more. He is a class act, a fantastic player and so good for the game. 

“I’d like to see him go and win it now, and I told him that afterwards – get the job done. We are all Ding fans, it would be nice to see him win it. 

“He is ranked where he is, No38 or whatever, because he struggles at some of these leisure centre venues being stuck on outside tables. That is very hard. 

“The real class players enjoy an occasion like this to bring the best out of themselves and that is difficult because there aren’t many of those events. Most of them are in leisure centres. 

“If you put a class player on table eight in a car park with three people watching, that’s what you get.  

“You don't put a class racehorse on some muck old course and expect to get the best out of it. But that's the way the tour is, he doesn't thrive on it and it is a bit of an evener. He's thinking 'what am I doing here'? But a proper tournament, he's here.

“I have not lost sleep over anything for the last 10 years, as long as it works for me and I am having fun I'll keep pitching up. I'll go and have a few Guinesses and go for some runs." 

“I knew that as soon as someone did play all right against me then they were probably going to beat me – so I’m not that surprised and can’t complain I have had a good run.” 

O’Sullivan is the youngest player ever to win the UK at 17 – and if he had won it again this year would have also become the oldest. 

Former world No1 Ding, 35, said: “I am very surprised by the scoreline. Even when you are 3-0 and 4-0 up against Ronnie you expect him to come back strongly, as he has done against me before. 

“So I was delighted to get first chance and score well in the two frames after the interval when I was 4-0 up. This is my biggest win in terms of margin over him – and I will remember today. 

“The last time I beat him was here and I won the title, so I hope the same happens this year. There was a real battle for the first two frames, with many misses from both of us. 

“But after that I just tried to remember how I played in the first two rounds, and I played and scored really well in the last four frames. 

“I had a bit of luck with the fluked red in the fourth frame as well, but sometimes you need that against Ronnie. 

“And I have had great support this week, a lot of Chinese students from York and other universities have come to cheer me on.” 

After edging the first two scrappier frames Ding put his foot down, rattling in breaks of 88, 94, 87 and finishing with a flourish and a 131 clearance. 

Ding first won this title at the age of 18 in 2005 when he beat Steve Davis in the final.

Ding’s semi-final opponent on Saturday will be world No32 Tom Ford, after the 39-year-old from Leicester beat Joe Perry 6-4 to get to the last four at the UK for a second time. Snooker add – Ding will play Ford in SF

Ford, who reached the same stage in 2018 before losing to O’Sullivan, is one of those players in the conversation as best player never to have won a ranking title – and has never been in the top 16. 

The Leicester pro has been working with a sports psychologist and held himself together superbly to close it out after missing match ball to win 6-3. 

He said: “Normally you can cave in a bit if things go wrong. I have been one of the worst for beating myself up, but some of the techniques are working. 

“And I actually felt good at the end and was confident I would clear up if I got a chance.” 

Jack Lisowski equalled a century-break record as he blew Shaun Murphy away to reach a first UK semi-final.

The lighting-fast 31-year-old from Cheltenham, still chasing a first ranking title after six lost finals, made four tons in a row in a 6-1 victory.

There were breaks of 67 and them 105, 127, 123 and 100 – but he missed a yellow in frame six going for a new record to allow Murphy to delay the inevitable with one of his own.

Murphy, who declared a push shot on himself that cost him the match in the last frame, said: “He was phenomenal – that was right up there with any performance against me.

“The breaks, and the speed he makes them…if he plays like that, he wins. The only other player that has that same raw DNA talent in their veins to make the game look that easy is Ronnie.”

Lisowski said: “That’s nice of Shaun but I haven’t had anything like the success Ronnie has had – or won a title yet. That’s what I want – not to make it look easy, but to win tournaments.”

Lisowski will play reigning Northern Ireland Open champion Mark Allen - who won the last four frames to beat Sam Craigie 6-4.

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