From PA Media

Last Updated: 01/05/22 5:57 p.m. Ronnie O’Sullivan leads 5-3 after the start of the World Snooker Championship final
Ronnie O’Sullivan accused referee Olivier Marteel of “looking for trouble” after an angry exchange tarnished the opening session of the World Snooker Championship final against Judd Trump in Sheffield. Marteel warned O’Sullivan of an obscene gesture after the six-time champion failed to get out of a snooker in the eighth frame, causing a visibly irritated O’Sullivan to challenge the referee to check the camera and insist he “saw nothing “. . The World Snooker Tour confirmed the incident in a statement saying: “Ronnie O’Sullivan has received an official warning from the referee following a gesture in the eighth frame.” O’Sullivan, who finished the session with a 5-3 lead, denied any wrongdoing in an interview with Eurosport, saying: “I just think that [Marteel] seems to be looking for trouble. I just get that atmosphere from the guy. “They have hundreds of cameras out there and they can go and check them all. I’m not going to have any of them because I think he’s just trying to create something. He has to deal with it, not me.” O’Sullivan clashed with referee Olivier Marteel in Crucible
O’Sullivan is already facing investigation by the WPBSA disciplinary committee for allegedly obscene gesture after losing a black in the 13th frame of his 10-5 victory in the first round over Dave Gilbert. The six-time world champion had earlier complained to Marteel about a security guard moving in his field of vision during the third frame, after the pair became embroiled in a lengthy exchange of views on the placement of the white after a failure in the fourth frame. . At the end of the session, O’Sullivan shared a punch with Trump, but left the arena without offering Marteel, who is the referee in his first world final, a routine recognition. The incident tarnished an action-packed opening session, in which Trump led by a 72-point break, just for O’Sullivan to take advantage of some of the 2019 champion’s poor shooting options to win the next five in a row, including two centuries. took his career at Crucible above the 200 mark. Jad Trump late organized a rally on Sunday afternoon
Tensions escalated in the fourth quarter when O’Sullivan insisted that white had been substituted incorrectly after a failure, involving Trump twice in the debate and at one point insisting that Martel joke to play the shot himself before the referee finally insisted that the game must be continued. O’Sullivan continued to win the frame by putting on a repositioned black of three pillows and, after wiping the next two, the situation seemed bleak for Trump, who seemed to be struggling with the situation and was facing an almost irreversible first-session deficit. But Trump responded with a break of 97 in the seventh frame, before disappointing his own frustration with Marteel’s intervention in the next, asking the official why the obvious reprimand could not wait until the end of the session. Martel replied to Trump that “I had to say something” before Trump calmly applied the other colors to give himself every chance before the game resumed later Sunday afternoon.