Ka Wai Cheung rallies from 3-1 down to knock O'Sullivan out in Belfast

Ka Wai Cheung overturned a 3-1 deficit to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-3 in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open on Monday, ending the Englishman's return to the Belfast tournament. BBC Sport NI reported that the world number 110 took the last three frames at the Waterfront Hall to eliminate the world number 13.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37Ju8hgiTA

Cheung won the opener before O'Sullivan put together a three-frame winning sequence. Breaks of 56, 138 and 72 brought the 50-year-old within one frame of victory, but he could not finish the match. A missed red in the fifth frame offered Cheung a route back, and the Hong Kong player made an 88 break to reduce the deficit. He followed that with 77 to level the contest and force a seventh frame.

A further miss by O'Sullivan gave Cheung his opportunity in the decider, which the 27-year-old seized with a break of 61. Speaking to BBC Sport NI afterwards, Cheung said he was pleased to have performed under pressure. He acknowledged feeling apprehensive before facing O'Sullivan in front of the latter's many supporters, but described the experience as valuable regardless of the outcome and the victory as particularly satisfying.

The defeat came on O'Sullivan's first Northern Ireland Open appearance since 2022. A three-time finalist at the event, he had also been absent from Home Nations tournaments since the 2024 English Open. According to the BBC report, this was his first tournament in the United Kingdom since losing to John Higgins at April's World Championship.

O'Sullivan was the eighth top-16 player eliminated among the nine who had played at the venue by that stage of the event. Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Xiao Guodong, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter had gone out on Sunday. Monday brought further departures for Chris Wakelin and Barry Hawkins, with Wakelin losing 4-1 to Jamie Jones and Hawkins beaten 4-2 by Daniel Wells.

There were wins elsewhere for Kyren Wilson and Luca Brecel. Wilson, the 2024 Northern Ireland Open champion, defeated Ben Mertens 4-0 to reach round two, while Brecel beat Lei Peifan 4-1. Cheung's next opponent will be the winner of the match between Stuart Bingham and Yao Pengcheng, with a place in the last 16 at stake.