O’Sullivan crashes out as Hendry edges White

Ronnie O’Sullivan suffered a stunning 9-6 defeat to qualifier Stuart Bingham last night in the first round of the UK Championship.

The three-time former world champion looked to be fending off Bingham’s threat when he moved from the overnight score of 4-4 to a 6-4 lead with breaks of 62 and 77.

However the 35-year-old, a day on from his birthday, then dropped five frames in a row to make his early exit.

Bingham did not even need to score heavily to take the frames, his highest break in the run being a modest 48 to O’Sullivan’s paltry 24.

Stephen Hendry produced a match-winning break in the deciding frame to beat Jimmy White 9-8.

The clash between two legends in Telford was reminiscent of some of their epic battles of the 1990s – notably the 1994 Crucible final which also went to a deciding frame with Hendry coming out on top.

However, the quality of play was well below what these two giants of the game were producing in their prime, with many frames punctuated by unforced errors.

Hendry bookmarked the contest with excellent breaks – a 104 in the first frame and a crucial 73 in the last. He goes through to the last 16 to face Mark Williams.