Ronnie O’Sullivan, a seven-time champion, and Judd Trump both suffered shocking loses in the World Championship quarterfinals. O’Sullivan lost 13-10 to Stuart Bingham, and world number two Trump was defeated 13-9 by Jak Jones.
On the other side of the draw, David Gilbert defeated Stephen Maguire 13-8 to move to the semi-finals. And he’ll now face fellow Englishman Kyren Wilson, who defeated Scotland’s four-time winner John Higgins 13-8.
Trump and O’Sullivan had been cast as favourites to triumph at the Crucible Theatre prior to the tournament.
And the draw had left open the prospect of a mouth-watering last-four meeting between the pair, with O’Sullivan also chasing a record eighth world title in the modern era having drawn level with Stephen Hendry on seven in 2022.
But it was simply not to be for ‘The Rocket’ – he was unable to pull away from 2015 winner Bingham, who held his nerve and made a superb break of 104 as he took three consecutive frames to seal his victory.
Bingham, Gilbert and Jones’ successes mean it is the first time since 1977 that three qualifiers have reached the last four of the tournament.
Superb Bingham foils frustrated O’Sullivan
O’Sullivan’s defeat to Bingham means his unbroken sequence at the top of the world rankings dating back to April 2022 will come to an end this month when he is replaced by Mark Allen.
The 48-year-old also saw his hopes of claiming all three Triple Crown events in a season dashed, having already triumphed in the UK Championship and Masters this term.
However, Bingham will hope his deserved win represents a good omen having also advanced past the same opponent at the same stage nine years ago.
Having resumed at 8-8, a sublime 136 from O’Sullivan would have unnerved most opponents but Bingham dug in and showed his resolve.
He compiled two half-centuries to edge back ahead and was not unsettled by a couple of other unexpected scenarios.
Play was briefly halted in the 21st frame when Bingham missed a pink to the left corner and O’Sullivan told referee Desislava Bozhilova “to chill” after retaking his seat unhappy at the amount of noise coming from people entering the other side of the auditorium.
O’Sullivan had earlier claimed some referees “have it in for me” after a bizarre incident at 6-5, when he opted to play safe rather than opting to attempt a pot on a red close to the black because he believed the black had not been spotted correctly.
He repeatedly asked referee Bozhilova to replace the ball because it appeared to be rolling fractionally off its spot while he was on a break of 20 and eventually lost the frame.
The 2010 world champion Neil Robertson, speaking on BBC Two, called it one of the “greatest bits of sportsmanship” he has seen.
However 41-time ranking event winner O’Sullivan then told Eurosport: “To be honest with you, some of the refs, I think they’ve got it in for me, so I just wanted to prove to her that she got it wrong.
“I didn’t feel good about potting the ball after that, but I just wanted to make the point. I’m not that hungry to win it in that way, so once the principle’s been made I can sleep at night.”
World Snooker rejected O’Sullivan’s allegations and said Bozhilova, who has refereed on the professional tour for 12 years, acted correctly throughout.
