Ronnie O’Sullivan: Seven-time world champion out of English Open after defeat to He Guoqiang

Ronnie O’Sullivan is out of the English Open after a shock 4-2 first-round defeat by China’s He Guoqiang in Brentwood.

He, 24, raced into a 3-0 lead against the seven-time world champion, with breaks of 78 and 77.

Breaks of 56 and 59 brought O’Sullivan back into the contest, but China’s He won the sixth frame with a composed 50 break to complete a memorable victory.

He will play Stephen Maguire in the second round after the Scotsman beat Hungary’s Bulcsu Revesz 4-0.

Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen survived a scare to edge past world number 71 Long Zehuang of China 4-3.

The world number three went 2-0 ahead but then did not pot a ball for three frames as Long turned the match around to lead 3-2.

Allen then had a touch of fortune in sixth frame when he fluked a red that set up a snooker from which Zehuang never recovered.

Having regained the momentum Allen was able to close out the decider to set up a second round meeting with Lyu Haotian, who who beat Dominic Dale 4-2.

There were a number of other shocks including three-time world champion Mark Williams losing 4-1 Ben Woollaston.

World number 10 Gary Wilson lost 4-3 to Ross Muir and world number 14 Tom Ford was beaten 4-2 by China’s Jiang Jun

Elsewhere, Barry Hawkins recovered from 2-0 down to beat Jimmy Robertson 4-2, while Neil Robertson eased past Jackson Page 4-1.

Matthew Selt is also through by beating Ricky Walden 4-3 and Jamie Jones thrashed Zhou Yuelong 4-0.

John Higgins, the four-time world champion, is also through after a top break of 97 helped him beat Andrew Higginson 4-1.