Cardiff, Feb 19 (IANS): Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was beaten by local hero Matthew Stevens 4-3 in the third round of the Welsh Open snooker tournament here.

Both players missed numerous chances in the thriller as Stevens ended a run of nine consecutive defeats against the five-time world champion Wednesday, reports Xinhua.

"I missed a chance to go 3-2 up, but then I was pleased with my clearance to stay in the match at 3-3," said Stevens, who has never reached the final of this event.

"I scraped over the line although I was fortunate that Ronnie missed a lot of balls. I'll take any win against him. It has been 12 years since I beat him and maybe that's why it took so long for me to close it out. It's nice to give the Welsh crowd something to cheer about."

O'Sullivan said to worldsnooker.com: "Matthew played a good match and deserved his win. He's had a lean few years but he's a great player and has under-achieved. It's unfortunate for me but that's snooker - you win some and lose some and have to accept the losses. It was a good crowd and a good atmosphere - I'm just disappointed to have lost."

Ben Woollaston beat Mark Allen 4-3 with a top run of 90. Ali Carter built a 3-1 lead over Matthew Selt with a top break of 103 before being hauled back to 3-3. But Carter, enjoying his best run since his return from cancer treatment, took the decider 67-19.

Neil Robertson and Mark Selby both battled their way into the last 16 with narrow 4-3 victories.

Robertson came from 2-1 down to beat Jamie Cope while world champion Selby needed two hours and 56 minutes to beat Peter Ebdon 4-3.