Judd Trump’s bid to win a fourth straight ranking tournament came to an end as he was beaten by Stephen Maguire in the third round of the International Championship in Tianjin, China.
Trump has been on a tear over the last month, winning the English Open, Wuhan Open and Northern Ireland Open.
Trump was the defending champion at the International Championship, having won the last time it was staged in 2019.
Maguire took a 2-0 lead after making breaks of 56 and 69.
Trump responded with a break of 88 to cut the lead, but Maguire won the next frame to move 3-1 ahead.
Although Trump took the fifth frame, Maguire won the sixth 70-54 and then knocked in a break of 88 to move one away from victory.
Trump stayed alive with a 74 break but Maguire closed out the win to book his place in the last 16.
O’Sullivan battles through
Ronnie O’Sullivan, meanwhile, reached the last 16 with a battling 6-4 win over Jak Jones.
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O’Sullivan clinches victory over Jones to progress at International Championship
O’Sullivan started well as he moved into a 2-0 lead, but Jones replied with a break of 77 to win the third frame.
Jones led 53-11 in the fourth frame but O’Sullivan doubled a red into the middle and then managed to take the frame 69-63 after a brilliant positional shot from blue to pink.
Jones took the next frame after the mid-session interval with a 130 break and then had a chance to level, but missed a long red which rolled over the pocket for O’Sullivan to pot and move 4-2 ahead.
A well-constructed break of 83 moved Jones within touching distance again.
It looked like O’Sullivan would take the eighth frame from 54-4 down, but he missed a blue into the middle and Jones took advantage to tie at 4-4.
The momentum looked to be with Jones but he couldn’t make another opportunity count as he missed a pot when looking for position.
O’Sullivan took a scrappy frame to move one away from victory and finished with a flourish as he made a break of 130.
O’Sullivan will next face Anthony McGill, who beat Jack Lisowski 6-2.
John Higgins made two centuries in a 6-1 victory over Dylan Emery.
Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson suffered third-round exits.
Allen was beaten 6-3 by Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who wrapped up the win with a 141 break, while Wilson lost 6-4 to Jordan Brown.
