O’Sullivan: Some of the referees ‘have got it in for me’

Ronnie O’Sullivan has hit out at the officials over a controversial incident in his World Snooker Championship quarter-final against Stuart Bingham.

But the big talking point came in the 12th frame, when referee Desislava Bozhilova was trying to re-spot the black, only for it to keep rolling off.

O’Sullivan was sure that the ball was in the wrong position, because it meant he had no path through to pot a red he had played for.

After asking for black to be re-spotted, The Rocket opted against taking the pot, saying it was down to his “principles”.

“Some of the referees, I think they’ve got it in for me,” he exclusively told Eurosport. “So I just want to prove to her that she’d got it wrong.

“Then I didn’t feel good about having to pot the ball after that, but I just want to make a point. The point was made.

“I’m not that hungry to win in that way. I’m more of a principled person. So the principles been made. I can sleep at night.”

The Rocket eventually lost the frame, which lasted a marathon 47 minutes, as they closed at 8-8 after two sessions.

He is attempting to win a record eighth crown, which would move him one clear of Stephen Hendry.

Former winners Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy and Luca Brecel – who lifted the title last year – have also made early Crucible exits.

Indeed, The Rocket is the only one of the world ranked top 10 players still in the event.

And he also insists he was not bothered by having less than two hours between the afternoon and evening sessions of his match against Bingham, adding: “It doesn’t matter, it’s just a normal day for me. A bit of snooker, a bit of food, chill out.”

Speaking of the incident, Eurosport pundit Alan McManus believes O’Sullivan made the correct decision not to take on the red.

“The sportsmanship is exemplary from Ronnie and it always is the case,” he said. “He plays a safety shot there.

“But what any referee I think should do is never mind what the players think or see or feel, they can have a conflab about it on their own, you take out our ball marker and if it overlaps then it doesn’t spot. It’s definitive.

“You don’t need a ball to see if it spots, you use the width of the ball marker. Then you figure out a way to get it on because you definitively know that it spots and that’s the key to it.

“Once you know whether it does or whether it doesn’t, then you can say to the guys, ‘Look, I’ve measured it on the middle of the cross’. Because there’s an indentation, so the ball will roll in because it’s been spotted 312 times over the last couple of days.

“It’s not an easy job, it’s just the way you go about it. There are complexities to it but use the marker and have a look. It goes, that’s the first thing. Let’s find the best way of getting it on the spot.”

Jimmy White added: “When Ron first pots the black he thinks he’s on the red and he asks for the ball to be re-spotted. She re-spots it and he is a bit more where he can pot it [but] he still doesn’t believe she’s putting it right on the spot, so what happens then, eventually it goes on the spot and Ronnie can pot it.

“But he doesn’t. He goes to Stuart Bingham and Stuart Bingham says, ‘Whatever you say Ron I believe’.”