Jordan Brown produced one of snooker's greatest upsets by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-8 in the Welsh Open final at Celtic Manor. The world number 81, a 750-1 outsider at the start, became the lowest-ranked winner of a ranking title in over 25 years.
The 33-year-old from Antrim almost lost his tour card last year following a string of poor results, but showed signs of form by reaching his first career quarter-final at the German Masters last month. In Wales, he won four consecutive final-frame deciders, including a quarter-final victory over Mark Selby and a 6-1 semi-final win against Stephen Maguire.
Brown led 4-1 before O'Sullivan, a six-time world champion, recovered to trail 5-3 after two centuries. Brown responded with a century of his own, but breaks of 68 and 61 put O'Sullivan ahead for the first time at 6-5. Brown then won two frames to lead 7-6, and after O'Sullivan levelled, a 56 clearance to blue moved Brown within one frame of victory.
O'Sullivan forced a decider with a 119 clearance, but Brown took his chance in the final frame with a break of 74 to secure the £70,000 winner's cheque. "It feels unbelievable and it's not going to sink in for a while," said Brown. "I have always believed in myself but I just never thought this would happen."
O'Sullivan paid tribute to Brown, saying: "You're not a bad player if you beat Selby and Maguire, so I knew he would be comfortable on the big stage and I'm not surprised." Both players now head to Milton Keynes for the Players' Championship, with O'Sullivan criticising the congested calendar.
