He was beaten 5-3 by wildcard Tian Pengfei after conceding the final frame.
With the scores locked at 3-3, O'Sullivan was in command before a break of 87 from Pengfei. Then, O'Sullivan just needed a straight black to tie at 4-4 but gently rolled it to the pocket and it failed to drop. He conceded without asking Pengfei to play.