O’Sullivan suffer early exit while Mark Allen advances to the next round

Eight-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan crashes out UK Championship.

The veteran looked to be heading for the last 16 when he established a 4-2 cushion over Barry Hawkins with the aid of a brace of tons.

But O’Sullivan barely scored a point thereafter, with Hawkins reeling off contributions of 73, 75, 88, and 60 to produce a strong finish and a 6-4 victory.

The defeat for the Rocket prolongs a miserable run of form, having also bowed out in the early rounds of the International Championship and the Champion of Champions this month.

Barry Hawkins will face David Gilbert next, meanwhile, after the Angry Farmer overcame the in-form Xiao Guodong with a similar 6-4 scoreline.

The other two results on day one of the 2024 UK Championship saw the seeded players survive from 6-5 thrillers at the Barbican Centre.

Shaun Murphy, the UK champion 16 years ago, put an end to Zhao Xintong’s fine run from the first round of the qualifying competition.

Indeed, at the latter tournament in Bolton, O’Sullivan squandered a similarly commanding position from 3-0 in front against Xiao Guodong.

Elsewhere, Mark Allen labelled his own form as “depressing” after beating Jackson Page 6-4 in the first round of the UK Championship.

Allen sealed the win with an impressive clearance from the green but managed a highest break of just 56 in a low-quality contest in York.

Ali Carter also advanced to the last 16 with victory over Ryan Day.

The former world championship finalist made breaks of 75 and 99 on his way to a 6-4 success.