BBC SPORT | Other sport... | Snooker (original) (raw)

Not a good day for Rocket Ronnie

Irishman Fergal O'Brien caused one of the shocks of the season by knocking tournament favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan out of the Northern Ireland Trophy.

The former British Open winner recorded a 5-2 win over the two-time world champion at Belfast's Waterfront Hall.

"It was a great result for me, a deadly result," said O'Brien, who will play Mark Allen in the semi-final.

Stephen Maguire beat Neil Roberston 5-2 to set up a tie against Shaun Murphy who defeated Peter Ebdon 5-3.

O'Sullivan set up his tie against O'Brien after a record-breaking win over Ali Carter that saw a 147 maximum and four other centuries.

O'Brien, who also beat John Higgins, added: "Five centuries has never been done before in a best-of-nine match, and it could be years before it's done again. It was better to get him today than yesterday."

The Irishman won the first two frames, stealing the opener on the black before O'Sullivan levelled with breaks of 110 and 44.

But O'Brien had runs of 70, 73 and 48 to progress.

"It was quite tough," said O'Sullivan. "I'm disappointed - you should be when you lose. Good luck to Fergal because he played well and deserves his chance."

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen beat compatriot Gerard Greene 5-3 to book his place in the last four.

Meanwhile, world number 10 Maguire racked up breaks of 40, 62, 50, 58, 51 and 105 to make sure of his place in the last four.

Robertson had a top break of 83, but Maguire won the seventh and deciding frame with his cool century.

"Neil's a brilliant player, but he was missing his long pots," said Maguire. "He was letting me in too easily, but any other day he could have won 5-2.

"It was a great win for me. I had good breaks in every frame."

Despite victory the Milton-based professional stressed his desire to go further in the event.

"I'm getting fed up of semi-finals, I need to win this tournament," he added. "I'm desperate to get through this semi-final."

To do so he will need to overcome world number three Murphy, who booked his place in his seventh ranking event semi-final with breaks of 50, 113, 56 and 69.

Reigning UK champion Ebdon only had one break over 50 - a run of 81 in the second frame - as Murphy recovered from missing a routine red in the seventh frame to wrap up victory.

"I don't what happened there," he added. "That's a lesson to everyone, you have to be committed to the shot 100%.

"I was on the shot wondering whether I needed two reds which were together. Sometimes the reason you miss isn't a technical fault, literally my mind wasn't on potting on the ball and getting on the black."

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites