Ronnie O’Sullivan knocked out of World Championship by ‘phenomenal’ Luca Brecel

Seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan said he “didn’t put up any resistance” after crashing out of the World Championship with a 13-10 defeat to Luca Brecel.

O’Sullivan, resuming 10-6 ahead in his quarter-final, lost seven successive frames as Brecel reached the last four in extraordinary circumstances.

Defending champion O’Sullivan failed to make a single break over 30 as his Belgian opponent set up a semi-final date with either Anthony McGill or Si Jiahui.

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“I didn’t put up any resistance but you’ve still got to pot the balls,” O’Sullivan told the BBC.

“I wasn’t playing well enough to have any impact on the game.

“If it was a boxing match they would have stopped it very early on. I was just pinching frames and hanging on.

“There’s only so much hanging on you can do at the Crucible. It catches up with you at some point, and someone will eventually put you away.”

Brecel, winner of two major rankings tournaments – the 2021 Scottish Open and 2022 Championship League – immediately imposed himself on O’Sullivan after both players had opportunities to win a scrappy initial frame.

O’Sullivan then inexplicably missed a black off its spot and Brecel split the pack of reds to take advantage with a 112 clearance.

The next frame followed the same pattern as O’Sullivan, stretching over a long red, let in Brecel again.

Brecel capitalised with a 64 break and, although he missed a red that would have left O’Sullivan requiring a snooker, he eventually reduced arrears to 10-9.

The scores were level when O’Sullivan lost position again and Brecel got among the balls for a 72 break.

O’Sullivan was in desperate need of the interval, but contributions