Five-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is out of the English Open after a 4-3 fourth-round defeat to China’s Mei Xiwen in Crawley.

A 134 break helped O’Sullivan move into a 3-2 lead at the K2 leisure centre, but Mei fought back to force a decider.

The world number 70 then had breaks of 52 and 71 to progress through to the quarter-finals.

O’Sullivan criticised the K2 leisure centre throughout the week, calling it a “one-star venue”.

The 43-year-old described the West Sussex venue as “a hellhole” last year, and added that “every day in Crawley is a day lost in my life” after his first-round win over Jamie O’Neill on Monday.

He renewed his criticism on Thursday by tweeting an image of a dirty restaurant floor, only for World Snooker to say it was an old photo as the restaurant area was refurbished six months ago.

Three-time world champion Mark Selby set up a quarter-final meeting with O’Sullivan’s conqueror Mei after beating Xiao Guodong 4-1.

World number seven Mark Allen is through after breaks of 60, 89, 100 and 129 helped him to a 4-0 win over Barry Hawkins.

Ricky Walden also reached the quarter-finals with 4-2 victory over Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh while Tom Ford beat Shaun Murphy 4-3.

Source: Read Full Article