RONNIE O’SULLIVAN suffered a stunning 9-6 defeat to qualifier Stuart Bingham last night in the first round of the 12bet.com UK Championship.
The three-time former world champion looked to be fending off Bingham’s threat when he moved from the overnight score of 4-4 to a 6-4 lead with breaks of 62 and 77.
However the 35-year-old, a day on from his birthday, then dropped five frames in a row to make his early exit.
Bingham did not even need to score heavily to take the frames, his highest break in the run being a modest 48 to O’Sullivan’s paltry 24.
Stephen Hendry again proved to be Jimmy White’s nemesis.
Hendry, who beat White in four World Championship finals during the 1990s, trailed 8-7 against crowd favourite White but won back-to-back frames to triumph 9-8.
