Ronnie O'Sullivan opened up an 8-4 lead against Judd Trump as the World Snooker Championship final neared its halfway point, but the opening day of this year's climax at the Crucible was dominated by a moment of controversy involving O'Sullivan and the Belgian referee, Olivier Marteel.
In the final frame of the afternoon session yesterday O'Sullivan and Marteel exchanged words after the referee accused O'Sullivan of making a gesture for which he was later given a formal warning by the sport's authorities.
O'Sullivan had won five of the first six frames to take a commanding lead over Trump, before the 32-year-old won the final two frames of the afternoon to narrow the deficit.
But in that last frame of the first session, O'Sullivan and Marteel confronted one another after the official appeared to reprimand O'Sullivan as he returned to his seat after failing to escape a snooker on the yellow.
This story is from the May 02, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the May 02, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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