Ronnie O'Sullivan names 'best ref in the world' after complaining about officials

04/05/2024 10:20

Ronnie O’Sullivan may have claimed that some referees have got it in for him, but clearly not Tatiana Woollaston, who he believes is the ‘best ref in the world by a mile’.

Woollaston has long been one of the best referees on the circuit, first officiating on television back in 2011, making her Crucible debut in 2020 and taking charge of finals at the Welsh Open and British Open.

She is refereeing the World Championship semi-final between Dave Gilbert and Kyren Wilson this year in Sheffield, a first experience of the one-table set-up at the Crucible, where she is excelling once again.

The Rocket is certainly impressed, saying: ‘Best ref in the world mate. By a mile. All day long for me. She should do this year’s final.’

12-time women’s world champion Reanne Evans said: ‘She’s a top ref, top, top ref. I really rate her, she’s a great girl as well.

‘She deserves the final. She’s top class and I hope she does get the final next year.’

It certainly seems only a matter of time before Woollaston gets to take charge of the biggest match in the sport, with the widely-respected ref so highly thought of throughout the game.

Paul Collier is refereeing this year’s Crucible final, the fourth time he will take charge of the World Championship showpiece before retiring from the role to focus on his position as Tournament Director on the World Snooker Tour.

O’Sullivan’s praise for Woollaston comes after he claimed that ‘some referees have got it in for him’ after a clash with Desislava Bozhilova during his quarter-final defeat to Stuart Bingham.

The strange scenario saw the referee re-spot the black after O’Sullivan potted it, but the ball slightly rock on a small indentation on the baize and a nearby red become impossible to pot.

The Rocket asked the referee to re-spot the black again and when she eventually managed to stop the ball rocking on the divet, the red was then pottable, but O’Sullivan chose not to pot it as he didn’t feel comfortable gaining an advantage that way.

However, after the incident he told Eurosport: 'Some of the referees, I think they've got it in for me, so I wanted to prove to her she's got it wrong.

'Then I didn't feel good about having to pot the ball after that. I just wanted to make the point and the point was made.

'I'm not that hungry to win in that way. I'm more of a principles person, so once the principle's been made, I can sleep at night.'

After the defeat he was asked about what happened and said: ‘'I won't be commenting on players or referees, it's not worth it.

'I'll keep silent on that sort of stuff. I won't comment on players and I won't comment on referees. I just leave it as it is. My life's too good and I don't need the hassle.'

MORE : Ronnie O’Sullivan hit a new low by mocking female snooker referee

MORE : Ronnie O’Sullivan speaks out after row with snooker referee and telling her to ‘chill out’

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