Ronnie O’Sullivan argues with referee and makes bold claims about officials in Crucible defeat

Ronnie O’Sullivan insisted he was treated unfairly by referees after arguing with the official during his World Snooker Championship defeat.

O’Sullivan crashed out of the Crucible, losing 13-10 to Stuart Bingham, but the match was marred by two incidents which saw ‘Rocket’ argue with the referee.

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The first came when the former world champion was leading 6-5 against Bingham and had just pocketed the black while chasing his opponent, bringing the score to 43-29 in the 12th frame.

But as referee Desislava Bozhilova tried to put black back on the table, the spot was marked and the ball did not stay in the correct position.

This led to some reprimands from O’Sullivan, who complained that the ball was in the wrong place before hitting a safety shot in what was described as “one of the most great sports minds of all time” as Bingham took the frame.

Another bizarre moment came during the evening session when O’Sullivan stopped playing as fans flocked to the Crucible, causing the Wordsley-born star to lose his cool.

He sat down while complaining to the referee, who was ushering people to their seats from his position at the side of the table.

After the gate was closed and fans stopped entering, O’Sullivan was clearly unhappy when the referee spoke to him, to which he responded by waving his hand at him telling him to ” relax “.

Bozhilova handled the situation well and replied: “I am calm.”

Before the evening session began, O’Sullivan was interviewed about the first black ball incident and insisted the umpires were treating him unfairly.

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“Some referees, I think they are mad at me, so I wanted to prove her wrong,” the seven-time world champion told Eurosport.

“Then I didn’t feel good having to pocket the ball after that. I just wanted to make the point and the point was made.

“I’m not so hungry to win that way. I’m more of a principled person, so once principle is established, I can sleep at night.”

While O’Sullivan was praised for his sportsmanship, he was also criticized by fans on social media for his public reprimands of the referee during the match.

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Bozhilova faced a tricky situation placing the black ball on the spot, which had clearly been affected during the match.

The referee even told O’Sullivan she was happy to spot the ball again after a request was made by the 48-year-old.

Speaking on commentary at the time of the incident, 2010 world champion Neil Robertson said: “He played carefully even though he was able to pocket the red. It’s incredible.

“It’s probably some of the best sportsmanship I’ve ever seen in any sport. It’s unbelievable.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”