Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted that he was “disappointed” after his UK Championship defence ended at the first hurdle in York on Saturday.
The record eight-time champion 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 International Championship and the Champion of Champions this month.
Indeed, at the latter tournament in Bolton, O’Sullivan squandered a similarly commanding position from 3-0 in front against Xiao Guodong.
“I don’t really know [what went wrong],” Ronnie O’Sullivan told Eurosport after suffering defeat to Barry Hawkins for only the third time in a ranking event.
“I just lost a snooker match. Barry played better than me and deserved his win, you know?”
“I felt okay, but I didn’t really get much of a shot. I don’t even know if I potted a ball from 4-2 onwards.
“It felt like I sat in my chair a lot. I’m a little bit disappointed, because I feel like I’m playing okay in practice for a change.
“Practice form and match form are completely different, so I’m just not taking it out there at the moment.
“Listen, I’m pretty much uncoachable really,” the 48 year-old added on his recent partnership with fellow player and coach Lee Walker.
“It’s just that sometimes it’s nice to have someone that you can maybe work on one thing.”
“I really like Lee. He’s an absolutely lovely, lovely guy. I just couldn’t do these coaches who just babble on all day.
“When you’re at that level like [Mark] Williams and [John] Higgins and all the top players, sometimes it’s just having someone who you can bounce a few things off of.
“Anyway, I enjoy working with Lee. He’s really good.”
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.
Zhao had been given an invitation to participate in this year’s edition on the back of his recent success on the amateur Q Tour.
Many regarded the 27 year-old as a dark horse to repeat his UK glory from three years ago as he continues to rebuild his career following his involvement in last year’s match-fixing scandal.
But a slow start amid losing the opening three frames ultimately left him with too much work to do, with Murphy holding on to advance to the last 16.
The Magician will face Ding Junhui next, who had to win the last three frames to keep his chances of landing a fourth career UK title alive.
Ding, a finalist in three out of the last five editions in York and the International Championship winner earlier this month, edged a dramatic final frame against Robert Milkins.
On Sunday, four more first-round fixtures will take place as the players continue to hunt down the £250,000 top prize.
The afternoon session of play will see Mark Allen encounter Jackson Page and Ali Carter entertain Ryan Day.
Later in the evening session, Mark Selby faces Jack Lisowski in one of the ties of the round, while Si Jiahui and Wu Yize meet in an all-Chinese clash.
2024 UK Championship draw and schedule
Round 1 (bo11)
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-6 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong 4-6 David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Zhao Xintong
Ding Junhui 6-5 Robert Milkins
Mark Selby 4-6 Jack Lisowski
Ali Carter 6-4 Ryan Day
Si Jiahui 4-6 Wu Yize
Mark Allen 6-4 Jackson Page
Judd Trump 6-3 Neil Robertson
John Higgins 6-0 He Guoqiang
Zhang Anda 6-3 Lei Peifan
Mark Williams 5-6 Stuart Bingham
Luca Brecel 5-6 Jak Jones
Gary Wilson 1-6 Michael Holt
Chris Wakelin 6-4 Matthew Selt
Kyren Wilson 6-0 Stephen Maguire
Round 2 (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 6-5 David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Ding Junhui
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Ali Carter
Wu Yize 4-6 Mark Allen
Judd Trump 6-5 John Higgins
Zhang Anda 6-5 Stuart Bingham
Jak Jones 5-6 Michael Holt
Chris Wakelin 2-6 Kyren Wilson
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 6-2 Shaun Murphy
Jack Lisowski 3-6 Mark Allen
Judd Trump 6-2 Zhang Anda
Michael Holt 3-6 Kyren Wilson
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 6-5 Mark Allen
Judd Trump 6-2 Kyren Wilson
Final (bo19)
Barry Hawkins 8-10 Judd Trump
Featured photo credit: WST
I didn’t feel O’Sullivan particularly frittered away the game with Xiao. The Rocket didn’t receive a chance until a decider where he was behind. There’s no doubt his level dropped after the interval with Hawkins but the Dartford man did play very well in the last four frames. Their first meeting in this great championship.
I was pleased to hear the BBC revert back to the original BBC snooker theme.