‘Disrespectful’ Ronnie O’Sullivan is slammed for telling female referee to to ‘just chill’ in row over noisy fans at the Crucible, before claiming he didn’t even want to play after losing

An irritable Ronnie O’Sullivan clashed with referee Desislava Bozhilova before crashing out of the World Snooker Championship in the quarter-finals.

The Rocket were defeated 13-10 by Stuart Bingham as his hopes of winning a record eighth Crucible title went up in smoke.

But there was a flashpoint in the 21st frame when play was interrupted by spectators watching the adjacent match between Kyren Wilson and John Higgins returning to their seats.

O’Sullivan was about to take a shot when he was distracted by the noise and movement through the venue and decided to sit down until the crowd quieted down.

Bozhilova tried to prevent anyone else from entering the arena with the other match midway through the session, but was unable to do so.

She said: ‘They don’t let anyone in. They have all sat down now. We might wait twenty minutes, you know what I mean?’

When O’Sullivan finally returned to the table, he told the Bulgarian referee to ‘just chill’ before throwing a long red.

It wasn’t the prelude to a victory, however, as Bingham pulled away to win that frame and the next two.

Earlier, O’Sullivan claimed that ‘the referees had it in for me’ after a controversial moment over a rolling black.

In the 12th frame, O’Sullivan potted the black for 29, with Bingham on 43. However, when Bozhilova spotted the black again, he hampered his shot on the next red by rolling slightly closer to the cue ball.

As a show of good sportsmanship, O’Sullivan offered Bingham the opportunity to take a closer look at the situation.

After Black’s position was adjusted slightly, he might have been able to pot the Red, but instead O’Sullivan decided to play a safety shot. Bingham ultimately won the frame.

During the break between sessions, O’Sullivan spoke to Bozhilova in an interview on Eurosport.

“It’s just a normal day for me, a bit of snooker, a bit of food, chilling, went to the gym this morning, nice day,” he said.

The quarter-final took place at a crucial moment in frame 21 when spectators (right) watched the adjacent match, interrupted by returning to their seats

O’Sullivan, who was about to receive a lengthy red card, was unfazed by the noise and commotion as he sat back down.

O’Sullivan then told referee Bozhilova to ‘just chill’ as he returned to the table

He was defeated 13–10 by Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals of the tournament at the Crucible

Bingham will advance against Jak Jones, who defeated Judd Trump in the other quarterfinal

‘To be honest, some referees have targeted me. I just wanted to prove her wrong.

‘Then I thought I didn’t feel good about having to pot the ball afterwards, but I just wanted to make a point. A point was made.

“I’m not really hungry to win that way, I’m more of a principled person.”

The Crucible semi-finals will see Wilson take on David Gilbert and Bingham against Jak Jones, with the two best-of-33 matches kicking off on Thursday.

After his defeat, O’Sullivan said his ‘arm was twisted’ to enter this year’s Crucible.

‘I wasn’t actually going to play in this until a new sponsor came along and said [you need to play in it],’ he said.

‘I wasn’t really planning on playing against Manchester or this, because of how I felt about playing. So they twisted my arm.

“So, like I said, first come, first served.”

When asked what he would have done had he not been in the Crucible, O’Sullivan said: ‘I have such a busy, good life, you know… I probably would have taken up painting with Damien. [Hirst]had a nice meal with him, walked the dogs, spent time with him [wife] Laila saw my kids, went to Champney’s Spa and spent maybe four or five days there.

‘I would have come here and spent a few days doing some Eurosport stuff, running in the Peaks, going to the gym and having a nice meal. Yes, life.’