Ronnie O’Sullivan has been knocked out of the Champion of Champions by Xiao Guodong, who did not pot a single ball in the opening three frames but staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 4-3 victory.
It will go down as one of the greatest shocks in the history of the event, with Stephen Hendry being made to eat his words after suggesting the tournament would be ‘perfect’ for O’Sullivan.
The Rocket looked in fabulous form as he won the opening three frames, making breaks of 95 and 125 along the way. Xiao did not score a single point until the fourth frame, when he began to find his feet.
He responded with breaks of 130, 88 and 85 to take the match to a decisive seventh frame, leaving O’Sullivan on the brink of a huge upset.
The decider was the only frame in which both players scored points. Xiao pulled ahead early on and prevailed under pressure to claim a remarkable victory, sending O’Sullivan crashing out in his first match at the tournament.
It meant that Hendry got his prediction for the Rocket completely wrong, having tipped him to shine by describing the Champion of Champions as ‘perfect’ for him.
Speaking on ITV4 before the start of the tournament, Hendry said: “It’s the fact it’s one table, all the attention is on you, we always have great crowds here, that’s what the big players love.
“Inspiration, venues to inspire the and make them play their best. It’s one of the reasons the likes of Ronnie has done so well here. It’s perfect for him.
“Ronnie doesn’t come in till Thursday, so basically, this is the kind of tournament he loves. He’s got to play three days of snooker to pick up the trophy. It’s perfect for him. That’s why he has such a good record in this event.”
Hendry admitted to underestimating Xiao while commentating on O’Sullivan’s defeat, describing the Chinese player as ‘world class’ and saying: “I knew he was good, but I didn’t know he was this good.”
