Pang Junxu sinks Ronnie O’Sullivan with successive century breaks in Nanjing

By Phil Casey, PA

China’s Pang Junxu made back-to-back centuries to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-4 in the third round of the International Championship in Nanjing.

O’Sullivan fought back from 4-2 down to level the scores, but the seven-time world champion failed to pot a single ball in the last two frames.

Pang made breaks of 120 and 123 to seal his place in the last 16 and looked on course to make a maximum 147 break in the ninth frame.

The 24-year-old ran out of position on the final red and collided with the yellow in potting it, but potted a thin black from long range and then rattled the yellow in the jaws of both corner pockets.

Pang will face Jackson Page in the next round after the Welshman beat Ali Carter 6-4, while John Higgins conceded just 31 points in the first five frames as he thrashed Matthew Stevens 6-1.

Chris Wakelin made two centuries and further breaks of 60, 85 and 63 as he beat former world champion Shaun Murphy 6-3, while world number one Judd Trump defeated Joe O’Connor 6-4.