O’Sullivan, who celebrates his 50th birthday on Friday, missed a chance to force a decider and Zhou cleared the colours to claim his first win over the record eight-time champion in eight attempts.

It marked the first time O’Sullivan, who now resides in Dubai, has played in Britain since his loss to Zhao Xintong in the World Championship semi-final in May.

And he revealed he has no particular plans for his big day as he prepares to head straight out of York and back to his temporary base in Ireland.

“I’ll probably go for a run, eat some nice food, and watch some snooker,” shrugged O’Sullivan, who insisted he was not particularly downbeat despite the defeat.

Referencing his imminent move into his sixth decade, O’Sullivan added: “It feels all right. It feels good in some ways and not so

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