“Chinese Zhou Yuelong beat the famous English snooker player”, — write: sport.ua
Zhou Yuelong will now play Mark Selby for a place in the quarter-finals.
In seven previous meetings, O’Sullivan had defeated Zhou each time. Among them was a game at the 2023 British Championship, where the 41-time ranking winner won 6-5, trailing 4-5.
WST. Zhou Yuelong Zhou Yuelongwho did not have much hope for victory, even moved out of his hotel in the morning. However, he finally beat Rocket for the first time.
O’Sullivan holds the record for winning 8 British Championship titles but has been knocked out at the first stage for the second consecutive year.
Barry Hawkins also beat O’Sullivan (6-4) in York 12 months ago.
WST. Ronnie O’Sullivan The opening 29-minute frame of the day remained for Zhou, after which he scored the colored balls and “stole” the second frame on black and increased the lead (2:0).
Ronnie O’Sullivanplaying his first match on British soil this season after moving to Dubai, responded with breaks of 71 and 123 to restore parity by the middle of the session (2-2).
After the game resumed, the rivals exchanged frames (3:3), after which Zhou took the lead (4:3), “stealing” the seventh frame by one point. A series of 127 then put him one step away from victory (5:3).
Ronny answered and continued the match (4:5), but it was Zhou who brought the matter to an end in the tenth frame, winning a significant victory (6:4).
WST. Zhou Yuelong 27-year-old Zhou Yuelong said: “I’m so excited. He is a legendary snooker player and the best ever. He is the king of the Barbican arena. If you can beat Ronnie, that definitely gives you confidence. This is a great victory for my career.
Next match? I played with Mark Selby many times. He is another legendary player. I need to prepare and play well tomorrow.
I moved out of my apartment this morning. I booked it a week ago when the grid came out. It is very expensive and I didn’t know if I would win or lose. Now I have to stay. I’ll find something near the arena.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan, who turns 50 this week, said: “The opponent played better. I didn’t put up much resistance against him and made a lot of really bad mistakes. He deserved his win today. A defeat is a defeat. You have to accept that this is part of the athlete’s profession.”
At the other table, 4-time world champion Mark Selby beat China’s Lei Paifang (6:2) and will play Zhou Yuelong in the round of 16.
According to the materials of the World Snooker Tour
Snooker. 2025 UK Championship
Round of 16. December 2, 2025. York (England)
Mark Selby (England) – Lei Peifang (China) – 6:2
Ronnie O’Sullivan (England) – Zhou Yuelong (China) – 4:6
Tournament grid
Video review of matches