02 May 2024 , 08:07
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Ronnie O'Sullivan has lost his world No.1 ranking after crashing out of the World Snooker Championship in a controversial quarter-final match against Stuart Bingham.
O'Sullivan lost 13-10 to Bingham as his hopes of winning a record setting eighth world title came to an end and the Rocket has also been usurped as world No.1 by Mark Allen as a result as he needed to win this year's tournament to retain top spot.
Judd Trump, meanwhile, would have become the new No.1 had he reached the final, but he was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Jak Jones. And while Allen also suffered an early exit, he has been rewarded with the No.1 ranking after a stellar season.
"One of my lifetime goals achieved," Allen wrote on social media. "Not quite the way I'd hoped to get there but I'll take it. 6 wins, a runner up and countless semis in the last two seasons and this is my reward. Need to continue the consistency to try and stay there now."
O'Sullivan had been world No.1 since the 2022 Tour Championship and he was involved in a spat with referee Desislava Bozhilova as he lost to Bingham on Wednesday. After repeatedly asking her to replace a ball he felt was rolling away from its original spot. he claimed that some referees have "got it in for me".
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"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," he told Eurosport. " I didn't feel good about potting the ball after that, but I just wanted to make the point.
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"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." After the match resumed following a mid-session break, there was another incident as O'Sullivan told Bozhilova to "chill" when she asked him to resume playing while some fans were still returning to their seats.
Mark Allen is the new world No.1 (Getty Images)Reflecting on the two incidents after the match, O'Sullivan 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." And when asked about the loss to Bingham, O'Sullivan added: "I quite enjoyed it. I like the fight. A lot of the time I haven't had the fight. It's just about controlling that sort of temper.
"I used to get angry and it would last for 20 minutes but now I can pretty much delete it and it doesn’t affect my performance. Rule number is just to enjoy what you do. I wasn't going to playing in this one until a new sponsor came along, and they twisted my arm."
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