If you’re the number one of something in the whole world, it might be expected that you’re quite competitive or be a bit of a sore loser.
And yet Ronnie O’Sullivan stunned snooker fans with the ‘greatest act of sportsmanship ever seen’ during a game.
The 48-year-old Brit is the current world number one snooker player and is widely recognised as one of the most talented players in history.
During the World Snooker Championship quarter-final, the black ball was re-spot.
Advert
This happened because the ball wasn’t stable in the correct position, prompting referee Desislava Bozhilova to be forced to move the white.
And this new placement meant it was in the perfect range for O’Sullivan to pot the red and win the frame.
If he had chosen to do so, he would have been put 7-5 ahead.
However, because it was ‘too easy’, the number one player decided to play it safe, costing him a frame with Stuart Bingham levelling the contest afterwards at 6-6.
Advert
O’Sullivan was adamant he shouldn’t have such clear sighting of the red and even offered his opponent the chance to come up and look at it for himself but he refused.
2010 World Champion Neil Robertson simply couldn’t believe what he had seen 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.
With O’Sullivan presumably thinking he’d gotten an unfair advantage, he essentially threw the frame - snookering himself.
Advert
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.”
Ken Doherty, the 1997 World Champion, also shed more light on the situation leading to O’Sullivan’s interesting decision.
"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.
Users on X called O’Sullivan the ‘ultimate sportsman’ for the move as they say it’s a ‘class act’ from the bloke.
Advert
Plenty praised it as ‘incredible sportsmanship’ as they now ‘hope he wins his 8th world’ following it.
And another added: “You're not the greatest just because of your ability to dazzle around the snooker table, you're the greatest because of your longevity and fantastic sportsmanship by playing the game how it should be played.”
Jess Battison