Ronnie O'Sullivan hailed for 'greatest act of sportsmanship in any sport' during his World Championship quarter-final at the Crucible

In a session that ended 8-8 of Bingham's eventual 13-10 success, attention focused on the 12th frame when O’Sullivan, 14 points down and on a break of 20, played safe rather than opting to pot a red close to the black because he believed the black had not been spotted correctly.

O’Sullivan deliberated with referee Desislava Bozhilova for almost five minutes as the re-spotted black repeatedly rolled fractionally off its spot, which gave the world number one a clear shot at a simple red into the top pocket.

Appearing to believe that if the black did not roll it would block his potting angle, O’Sullivan eventually opted to play a simple safety off the top cushion, earning an ovation from audience and praise from Neil Robertson, who was making his commentary debut for the BBC.

“Ronnie is the type of character that, even if he believes the black isn’t on its spot, he would probably play safe,” said Robertson.

“He’s looking to play safe here even though he can pot a red. It’s unbelievable. If he plays safe here it will probably be the greatest bit of sportsmanship I’ve ever seen in any sport.”

Bingham went on to win the match and afterwards hailed O'Sullivan - branding him the most honest player in the game.

However O’Sullivan provided a different take on the incident, telling Eurosport: “To be honest with you, some of the refs, I think they’ve got it in for me, so I just wanted to prove to her that she got it wrong.

“I didn’t feel good about potting the ball after that, but I just wanted to make the point. The point was made. I’m not that hungry to win it in that way, so once the principle’s been made I can sleep at night.”

WATCH: WILL THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STAY AT THE CRUCIBLE?

O’Sullivan is no stranger to sporting gestures. At last year’s UK Championship in York, he declared a foul on himself after feathering the cue ball midway through a tight sixth frame of the final against Ding Junhui.

O’Sullivan went on to lose the frame in question to Bingham, before breaks of 79 and 84 saw O’Sullivan move two frames clear in the match for the first time.

But Bingham responded with a superb display of break-building in the final two frames of the session to leave it all to play for on Wednesday evening, with a semi-final against qualifier Jak Jones at stake.

WATCH: WHERE ARE THE NEXT SNOOKER STARS COMING FROM?

World Snooker Championship: Draw and round-by-round results

ROUND ONE

Best of 19 frames (April 20-25)

• (1) Luca Brecel 9-10 David Gilbert
• (16) Robert Milkins 10-9 Pang Junxu
• (9) Ali Carter 7-10 Stephen Maguire
• (8) Shaun Murphy 10-5 Lyu Haotian
• (5) Mark Selby 6-10 Joe O’Connor
• (12) Kyren Wilson 10-1 Dominic Dale
• (13) John Higgins 10-6 Jamie Jones
• (4) Mark Allen 10-6 Robbie Williams
• (3) Judd Trump 10-5 Hossein Vafaei
• (14) Tom Ford 10-6 Ricky Walden
• (11) Zhang Anda 4-10 Jak Jones
• (6) Mark Williams 9-10 Si Jiahui
• (7) Ding Junhui 9-10 Jack Lisowski
• (10) Gary Wilson 5-10 Stuart Bingham
• (15) Barry Hawkins 8-10 Ryan Day
• (2) Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-1 Jackson Page

ROUND TWO

Best of 25 frames (April 25-29)

• David Gilbert 13-4 Robert Milkins (16)
• Stephen Maguire 13-9 Shaun Murphy (8)
• Joe O'Connor 6-13 Kyren Wilson (12)
• (13) John Higgins 13-12 Mark Allen (4)
• (3) Judd Trump 13-7 Tom Ford (14)
• Jak Jones 13-9 Si Jiahui
• Jack Lisowski 11-13 Stuart Bingham
• Ryan Day 7-13 Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)

QUARTER-FINALS

Best of 25 frames (All matches April 30-May 1)

• David Gilbert 13-8 Stephen Maguire (QF 1)
• (12) Kyren Wilson v John Higgins (13) (QF 2)
• (3) Judd Trump 9-13 Jak Jones (QF 3)
• Stuart Bingham v Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) (QF 4)

SEMI-FINALS

Best of 33 frames (May 2-4)

• David Gilbert v Winner QF 2 (SF 1)
• Jak Jones v Winner QF 4 (SF 2)

FINAL

Best of 35 frames (May 5-6)

• Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

Related snooker links

• World Championship draw and results
• Top 16 player profiles for 2024 World Championship
• What is the future of the Crucible?
• Ronnie O'Sullivan's quest for 888
• History of snooker's number ones
• Ronnie O'Sullivan's maximum breaks
• Watch all the Crucible 147 breaks
• History of 147 breaks
• Snooker's GOAT: O'Sullivan by the numbers
• O'Sullivan: One of a kind
• Ronnie on the unbreakable record
• Best players never to win the world title
• Crucible memories: Ronnie's finest hour
• Crucible memories: Higgins denies Trump
• Crucible memories: White a People's Champion
• Crucible memories: Johnson stuns Davis
• Crucible memories: Foulds' dream debut