Ronnie O’Sullivan has never shied away from speaking his mind.
It was no different at the 2010 World Snooker Championship when ‘The Rocket’ took a brutal swipe at referee Leo Scullion midway through his quarter-final clash against Mark Selby.
Phil Townsend - YouTubeO’Sullivan found himself in a tricky situation on the baize[/caption]The incident in question happened in the 12th frame of their best-of-25 contest as O’Sullivan, who led 6-5 at the time, lightly tapped the cue ball into one of the reds.
After playing the shot and believing there was separation between the two balls, O’Sullivan strode away up the other end of the table.
But upon Scullion’s closer inspection, he deemed the two balls were touching.
The Scottish referee’s verdict prompted O’Sullivan to return to the scene of the alleged snooker crime.
Commentator Ken Doherty initially joked Scullion would ‘have to go to Specsavers’, but a close-up revealed the two balls were indeed touching.
Fellow commentator Dennis Taylor noted the ball can sometimes ‘rock back a little bit’, explaining O’Sullivan’s frustrations.
“But it’s the referee’s choice,” Taylor added.
“If the referee says it’s touching, then Mark’s got to play it.”
As for O’Sullivan, his frustrations towards Scullion continued.
“There’s no way, in one million years, they were touching,” O’Sullivan said.
Phil Townsend - YouTubeO’Sullivan aired his frustrations with referee Scullion[/caption] Phil Townsend - YouTubeBut close-up shots proved ‘The Rocket’ would struggle to build a case for the ball not touching[/caption]“I checked before.”
Although it was not picked up on the broadcast, Doherty revealed O’Sullivan told Scullion ‘he needs to get his eyes tested’.
O’Sullivan, who had three world titles to his name going into the tournament, simply sat back in his chair and shook his head in utter disbelief.
Luckily for O’Sullivan, he recovered from the mid-frame mishap to extend his lead to 7-5.
In fact, ‘The Rocket’ led by as much as 9-5 before Selby slowly clawed back the deficit to make 9-7.
O’Sullivan extended the lead to 11-9 but from that moment on, it was one-way traffic.
Phil Townsend - YouTubeO’Sullivan sat and stewed on what he believed was the incorrect decision[/caption]Selby rattled off a staggering five-straight legs to turn the contest on its head and progress to the World Snooker Championship semi-finals.
“For the majority of the match I didn’t score but I managed to revert to plan B and grind out frames,” Selby said.
“Sometimes it’s not all about big breaks.”
As for O’Sullivan, he struggled to put a finger on why his performance fell apart.
“I can’t keep coming here moaning and trying to understand what’s going on in my little world,” O’Sullivan said.
“I haven’t felt fully comfortable or confident for 17 or 18 years.”
Sadly Selby’s bid for glory came to an end in the semi-finals, as he was beaten by Graeme Dott.
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