Snooker: O'sullivan Loses to Holt in Malta

Ronnie O'Sullivan, so impressive in winning the Saga Masters last month, suffered a 5-3 defeat by Michael Holt in the first round of the Malta Cup at the Hilton Conference Centre in Portomaso last night.

O'Sullivan had been highly focused in compiling four centuries on the way to beating Ding Junhui 10-3 at Wembley but did not appear to be fully motivated for the first ranking event of the year. He was asked three questions afterwards but would only answer "no comment" to each of them.

Snookered in what proved to be the last frame, O'Sullivan twice lashed at the reds without much thought before Holt eventually clinched his victory on the yellow ball.

Holt, the world No21 from Nottingham, has a reputation for allowing his temperament to defeat him but played superbly to build a 4-2 lead. The first signs of nerves came in the seventh when he missed a red on 18. After another Holt error O'Sullivan made a 76 break to trail only 4-3 but appeared bored during the eighth, even leaving the arena briefly while the referee Eirian Williams replaced balls from an attempted escape from a snooker. "I've been working on things mentally because I should have done better than I have," said Holt.

In another shock result Matthew Stevens, the world No14, was beaten 5-3 by his fellow Welshman Ryan Day. Shaun Murphy, the 2005 world champion, won the last two frames to beat Stephen Lee 5-4 and Graeme Dott, who succeeded Murphy as world champion last year, reached the quarter-finals after a 5-3 defeat of Leicester's Tom Ford, highlighted by a break of 135. Dott was unhappy at being relegated to a non-televised table. "I'm not complaining but I thought I would have been on the main table. The other tables are slower and it does make a difference," he said.