Ronnie O'Sullivan suffers shock defeat to unknown 18-year-old Aaron Hill in first match since World Championship win

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN suffered a stunning shock defeat to teenage rookie Aaron Hill last night in his first match since winning a sixth world title.

The Rocket went down 5-4 to the 18-year-old from Cork at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

Six-time and reigning world champion O’Sullivan, 44, arrived at the venue relaxed after a stay at a luxury health spa.

Things soon looked more tense as he trailed 3-1, though O’Sullivan hit back to lead 4-3 – but Hill rallied superbly to seal a famous win.

O’Sullivan had to wait for his first match since winning the World Championship at the Crucible last month after first-round opponent Daniel Wells failed a Covid-19 test.

He said: “Look, I had my chances and if you don’t take them then this can happen.

“Things didn’t go my way in the decider, there were a couple of flukes and he held himself together pretty well.”

Hill said: “I am almost speechless. He has always been my hero, but I wasn’t out there just happy to be in the same arena. I wanted to win.

“And I am just so pleased to win for myself and for my family and everyone back in Cork. My phone has gone mad since I finished.

“At 3-1 up I thought I was favourite and could have gone 4-1 – but after the interval he came back well. However I still told myself I’d have taken 4-3 down at the start, and that helped.

“I told myself to go out and enjoy it and that I had nothing to lose, and it is a fantastic win so early in my professional career.

“His comment about there being no good young players coming through was in my mind, and hopefully I have shown him there is some talent there.”

Meanwhile rapping rookie Peter Devlin stunned three-time world champion Mark Williams.

The 24-year-old from east London is a former child TV actor who makes Youtube rap videos that have earned over a million views.

He won a tour card last month – and after almost blowing a big lead produced a magnificent first career century in the decider to seal a 5-4 victory.

WILLIAMS STUNNED

Devlin said: “One day maybe I’ll get to come into the arena with one of my own songs as walk-on music.

“What a time to make the first century of my pro career, against someone like Mark on a TV table in a big tournament.

“The way my life has changed in the last few weeks is incredible – I didn’t realise the opportunities would come along as soon as this. Beating Mark is unreal.

“I started rapping at school because I wanted to be more ‘street’ to get in with the cool kids. I was amazed when one got 100,000 views.”

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