Ronnie O’Sullivan’s amateur replacement draws world number one at British Open

Mark Joyce got a late call-up to replace Ronnie O’Sullivan at the British Open and has won his way into the last 16 where he faces world number one Zhao Xintong.

The 43-year-old was only confirmed as an entrant in Cheltenham on Friday after the Rocket withdrew from the event.

Joyce has taken advantage of the opportunity, winning three matches and only conceding one frame so far.

The Walsall cueist beat Mateusz Baranowski 4-1, Jordan Brown 4-0 and scored a big upset by downing Pang Junxu 4-0 late on Wednesday night.

Things will get a lot tougher for him on Thursday night when he takes on Zhao, though, who was in wild form as he demolished Michael Holt 4-0 on Thursday afternoon.

The former world champion made breaks of 100, 63, 139 and 112 in a ruthless dismissal of the Hitman which lasted just 40 minutes and 29 seconds of playing time.

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John Higgins won one frame against Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon in the same session which lasted 46 minutes.

Holt joked with the crowd ahead of the last frame, saying, “I’ll start trying now,” before Zhao knocked in another ton.

After his 4-2 win over Daniel Wells in the previous round, Zhao was frustrated with how his cue has been responding in sweaty conditions.

‘My cue is very old,’ Zhao told Metro on Wednesday. ‘If I play in some bad weather, like in China it was so wet and my cue is too sticky. Just like today, I can’t play well.

‘I want to change my cue, I’ve been trying to find a cue for nearly half a year because if I play my cue in the bad weather, I can’t play well.

‘I’ve had it for nearly 15 years. I just want to change the cue now.’