Joy for Doherty as he goes on to semi-final

The Rocket crashes out in shock defeat RONNIE O’SULLIVAN’S defence of his Powerhouse UK Championship title came to a shock end at York last night when the world number one lost 9-6 to Drew Henry.

O’Sullivan struggled to hit anything approaching top gear and bit the tip off his cue as Henry crossed the winning line.

And the ‘Rocket’ vowed not to pick up the cue again until after the festive period following a disappointing performance that reminded him of why he has threatened to quit snooker so many times in the past.

“I didn’t get going at all and basically got slaughtered,” he said.

“I’m not too disappointed that I lost because the performance I put in wasn’t a surprise. I knew something like that was going to happen.

“When I lost in this tournament eight years ago I said I wanted to retire afterwards. It’s something I’ve fought with and tried to put right but it’s been very painful to deal with.”

Henry, the world number 22 from Rutherglen in Scotland, cleared from last red to black to win the fourth frame and level at 2-2. And Henry, a UK quarter-finalist two years ago, then added two scrappy frames to open his 4-2 lead before O’Sullivan closed to within a single frame.

The three-times champion then made a break of 53, playing shots alternately left and right handed to make it 4-4 but lost the first three frames of the evening session and could not recover.

“That’s the biggest win of my career but not the best in terms of standard,” admitted Henry.

“We were both poor in the first session but I got stronger in the evening. It’s a great boost to beat Ronnie over this distance.”

Henry now faces world number five Ken Doherty, who beat twice champion John Higgins 9-6.

Doherty led 4-0 and 5-1 before Higgins, the fourth seed, fought back to level at 6-6, with breaks of 113 and 118 the highlights.

Doherty cleared yellow to black to reclaim the lead and breaks of 63 and 41 got him over the line and into the semi-finals for a second successive year.

“It’s a great confidence boost to play so well against someone of John’s calibre,” Doherty said.

“It’s up there as one of the best displays of my career because even though I played very well, so did he.”