Ronnie O’Sullivan has slammed the standard of refereeing with the seven-time world champion claiming: “They’re overtrained.”
The Rocket, ranked No5 in the world, is yet to commit to this month’s World Championships at the Crucible but has already stirred the pot by claiming officials need to spend more time in the background – days after close pal Jimmy White fell foul of the three-miss rule in qualifying.
This year’s World Championships get underway in Sheffield on April 19 with Kyren Wilson looking to become the first player to defend his title since 1977. And speaking to a TNT Sports podcast, O’Sullivan laid out a potential narrative for the fortnight-long tournament by turning his focus on refs.
“I think they’re overtrained,” O’Sullivan said. “Just get the ball out and stand still. “I don’t care if you’re in my eyeline. In the snooker clubs you have fruit machines going and people arguing; you just get used to it.
“If they stood in front of my eyeline it wouldn’t make any difference, but now they have to place the ball to get round the back of your shoulder, and I’ve been in matches where I’ve said to the ref, ‘You’re in my way.’
“I’ve been making a 50-60 break, and I’ve had to tell him every time I potted a ball to stop because he was still moving and was breaking my rhythm.
“I’d rather you just stood right in front of me. I don’t care. But he couldn’t get his head around it. But after about 10 shots, he kind of got it.”
White had failed to hit an open red with three shots during the third frame of his qualifier against Ukraine ’s Anton Kazakov on Tuesday, forcing him to forfeit a frame. The 62-year-old ended up progressing at 1:20am having battled back from 7-3 down to win 10-9.
And O’Sullivan is no fan of the miss rules in general, adding that referee’s pedantic approach to ensuring every ball is in exactly the right place slows the game down too much
He said: “I also think the miss rule, they’re trying to get every ball back perfectly, who really cares? Is it really going to make any difference? It takes time. As long as he can’t pot it and doesn’t gain a massive advantage, he’s going to play the same shot. Does it really matter? I find that all a bit frustrating really.”
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