Ronnie O'Sullivan misses out on Championship League progression as He Guoqiang tops Group 2

Since his quarter-final loss to Stuart Bingham at the 2024 World Championship, O’Sullivan has been very busy on the exhibition circuit with shows in Asia and continental Europe, and he looked focused and reasonably sharp during his first match of the day as he hit breaks of 72 and 53 (twice) as he defeated amateur Kayden Brierley, 3-0.

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However, returning later for the second session, it was largely a struggle for the seven-time World Champion as he played his two remaining groups games.

In his match against Mitchell Mann, O’Sullivan won frame one with the aid of an 88 break, although recent Q School graduate Mann replied with a 93 in the second, and later took a scrappy fourth to draw 2-2.

Going into the final fixture of the group, O’Sullivan, Mann and last season’s Rookie of the Year He Guoqiang could all finish top and qualify for stage two, and it was 23-year-old He who upset the odds as he compiled breaks of 80, 57 and 77 in a 3-0 victory over O’Sullivan to clinch top spot.

He had lost his first encounter of the day to Mann 3-1, but maximum points against Brierley (3-0) and O’Sullivan were enough to see him through. The Chinese cueist is the first player in this year’s event to lose a match yet still advance (with the exception of Robbie McGuigan who was effectively competing in a three-player group due to the withdrawal of Tom Ford).

Over on table two, Jack Lisowski began the new campaign in positive fashion as he won Group 12 with seven points.

Lisowski - who is currently ranked 19th in the world - crafted breaks of 138 and 69 in a 3-0 win over amateur Anton Kazakov, and efforts of 69, 127 and 107 during a 3-1 success against Jiang Jun.

Going into the final tie of the group, Lisowski needed a point to sew up top spot, and that’s exactly what he got when he drew 2-2 with Mark Davis having claimed the opening two frames.