This is a banana skin of a match for Ronnie. Michael Holt's started to get a taste for beating some of the big players in televised matches over the last year, including Ronnie himself. He also beat Neil Robertson at the Crucible last season.
The result isn't that surprising because of the amount of tournaments played now. It will be very hard for Ronnie to take a whole year off now and win a World Championship again as he did a few years ago because even in that time there are an increased number of tournaments which makes the other players sharper.
Holt has been a much improved player in the last year or so who now believes he can win against the top players. He will be a dangerous opponent for anyone left in.