Ronnie O’Sullivan beaten at Shenzhen Open by ‘Unstoppable Rising Star’

Jiang Jun was introduced for his match with Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Shenzhen Open as ‘The Unstoppable Rising Star’ and lived up to that moniker by beating the Rocket 5-2.

The 21-year-old scored one of the biggest wins of his career on Monday, certainly beating the biggest name he ever has in a professional contest.

Jiang took a 2-0 lead, but the seven-time world champion appeared to have settled when he made breaks of 92 and 52 to draw level.

That was as good as it got for the 50-year-old, though, as the young Chinese talent won the next three to progress to the last 32 and book a meeting with Zak Surety, knocking in an excellent break of 108 in the final frame.

The MC in Shenzhen may have got a bit over-excited with the ‘Unstoppable Rising Star’ nickname, with Jiang having proved stoppable so far in his career, but he is certainly one of the brightest young prospects in the game.

He reached the first two ranking quarter-finals of his career last season, beating the likes of Mark Selby, Barry Hawkins and Dave Gilbert on his runs to the last eight of the Scottish Open and Welsh Open.

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Jiang very narrowly missed out on Crucible debut this year, losing 10-9 to Stan Moody on Judgement Day of the World Championship qualifiers.

It is a disappointing trip to Shenzhen for O’Sullivan, who has not won a ranking title since January 2024.

There were some signs of a return to form at the Wuhan Open in August where he reached the semi-finals, especially in a quarter-final victory over Mark Selby.

However, he played poorly in the semi-final loss to eventual champion Chang Bingyu and did not play again until Monday’s loss to Jiang.

The Rocket is in the draw for the Northern Ireland Open, due to play Cheung Ka Wai on Monday October 19, but he regularly withdraws from UK events, so whether he competes in Belfast is yet to be seen.

It has been a bad first day at the Shenzhen Open for the legendary Class of 92, with defending champion Mark Williams beaten in the first session on Monday.

Williams won the Xi’an Grand Prix last season before it was moved and renamed as this event, but his title defence lasted just one match.

The 51-year-old was dramatically downed 5-4 by Fan Zhengyi, potting the final pink but going in-off, to hand Fan the chance to win, which he took.

Probably the biggest shock of the day, though, was for the world number one, Zhao Xintong, who was beaten 5-4 by Scott Donaldson.

Zhao grew up in Shenzhen and has been the poster boy for the event this year, so an early exit will be a blow for tournament organisers, especially as O’Sullivan exited on the same day.

Donaldson made breaks of 77, 105, 62 and 50 on his way to the impressive win, which books him a clash with Pand Junxu in the last 32.

There was much better news for Judd Trump who strolled to a 5-0 win over Huang Jiahao in his opening match, with one century and four more 50+ breaks along the way.

He was due to face Anthony McGill in the next round but the Scot has unfortunately withdrawn from the event on medical grounds so Trump receives a bye to the last 16.

Neil Robertson, Chris Wakelin and Si Jiahui all progressed as well on the tournament’s opening day.

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