Ronnie O'Sullivan's miserable run continued as he was eliminated from the Bank of Beijing China Open at the first-round stage yesterday.
For the second ranking tournament in succession, the Rocket fell at the first hurdle to Ryan Day, the Welshman completing a 5-2 success.
Day took the first frame with a break of exactly 100 but O'Sullivan produced a glimpse of his best form with a 123 in frame three to take the lead in the match.
It would prove short-lived, though, as Day levelled with a 78 and took a scrappy fifth frame. He extended his lead with a run of 57 and took an untidy seventh frame to leave world number 10 O'Sullivan still without a win in a ranking event since September's 12BET.com World Open.
A dejected O'Sullivan said: ‘‘My form isn't great, there's nothing I can do but keep trying. I can't put my finger on why but it's very frustrating and certainly no fun for me.
‘‘I don't know how much more I can take playing like that. I've said I would retire before but haven't, so I don't want to look silly, but I can't continue to keep playing that way. I'm not going to say I'm retiring but you never know, it's not looking good.''
Day said: ‘‘Before I played Ronnie in the Welsh I hadn't beaten him but that's twice on the spin now."
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