Jess Battison
Ronnie O’Sullivan has explained why he made the ‘greatest act of sportsmanship ever seen’ during a game.
‘The Rocket’ was playing in the World Snooker Championship quarter-final yesterday (1 May) when the black ball was re-spotted.
And what the 48-year-old Brit did during the situation has been hailed by many as a ‘class act’.
So, basically, when the world number one potted the black and was then on the red, he seemed to feel as though the black hadn’t been put on its spot correctly - meaning he had a much easier shot on the red.
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O’Sullivan actually asked the umpire to re-spot the black so he wouldn’t be given an unfair advantage.
So instead of taking the new placement for him to be able to win the frame, he essentially snookered himself by playing it safe.
He was adamant he shouldn’t have had such a clear sighting of the red, and even offered opponent Stuart Bingham the chance to have a look for himself.
Fans praised him as the ‘ultimate sportsman’, despite him actually losing the game in the end.
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And O'Sullivan later explained why he acted the way he did over the incident.
"Some of the referees, I think they've got it in for me," he 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."
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Either way, people think O’Sullivan made the right call in the situation as 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson praised him on the commentary.
"It’s such an unusual situation this, I’ve never really seen it before. It’s down to whether the black is rocking on and off the spot," he said on the BBC.
And as he took that shot, Robertson said: “If he plays safe here, that will be the greatest bit of sportsmanship I've ever seen in any sport.”
The commentator added: “That's incredible. I've never seen anything like that before.”
Robertson also gave some more context behind O’Sullivan’s unique decision.
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"The problem was the black rocked a little bit on the spot, which means Ronnie can't pot the red. Ronnie just questioned it, which he had every right to do so.
“It was a tricky situation for Ronnie and the referee," he explained.