Luca Brecel’s hopes of taking over from Ronnie O’Sullivan as snooker world number one were halted with a defeat by Ding Junhui at the British Open.
World champion Brecel needed to reach the third round of the tournament to move top of the men’s rankings.
But the 28-year-old Belgian suffered a 4-3 loss against China’s Ding in the first round.
Medical reasons mean O’Sullivan is not playing at the ranking tournament at the Centaur in Cheltenham.
Brecel had recovered from 3-0 down to draw level with Ding but lost the decider.
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