Ronnie O’Sullivan was knocked out within the opening spherical of the 2024 Champion of Champions event in Bolton by China’s Xiao Guodong.
Xiao then beat Mark Selby 6-5 within the quarter-finals, after getting back from 4-1 and 5-4 down.
Within the first spherical, four-time Champion of Champions winner O’Sullivan, 48, had taken a 3-0 lead within the best-of-seven-frames match, solely to lose 4-3 after an excellent comeback from Xiao.
Breaks of 95 and 125 in frames two and three respectively had seven-time world champion O’Sullivan on the right track to succeed in Thursday’s quarter-final on the Toughsheet Group Stadium.
However Xiao produced breaks of 130, 88 and 85 earlier than profitable the ultimate body 64-35.
It’s O’Sullivan’s second consecutive defeat. Final week, he was knocked out of the 2024 Worldwide Championship by Pang Junxu, additionally from China, on the last-32 stage.
Xiao then confronted Selby, who earlier on Thursday beat Shaun Murphy 4-2 to succeed in the final eight.
Selby raced right into a 4-1 lead because of breaks of 63, 64 and 120, regardless of a formidable 118 from Xiao to win his first body.
Simply as he had executed earlier within the day, Xiao got here from three frames all the way down to stage the match at 4-4, doing so once more two frames later to make it 5-5.
In a tense ultimate body that embrace a rerack, Selby took a 39-0 lead, however Xiao turned it round to win 78-51, together with a break of 58.
Xiao will face primary seed Mark Allen within the semi-finals. Within the different last-four match sixth-seed Mark Williams will tackle Neil Robertson.
