McLeod in a bust-up with his opponent over free ball controversy
CITY-BASED STAR WINS FIRST ROUND CLASH
RORY McLeod slammed David Gilbert’s etiquette and questioned his integrity after battling through a heated first round clash at the English Open, writes Will Jennings of Sportsbeat.
Leicester-based McLeod won 4-2 in Milton Keynes but that doesn’t tell the whole story as the pair became embroiled in a fourth-frame bust up over referee Mark King’s decision not to award McLeod a free ball.
Gilbert backed the official’s decision but McLeod criticised his opponent for agreeing with King and refusing to fully inspect the position of the balls himself.
And that prompted the comment “do you think I’m cheating?” from 2019 World Championship semi-finalist Gilbert.
The world No.113 fumed at Gilbert for his manners and hit back at claims he tried to intimidate the referee.
McLeod, 49, said: “It was clearly a free ball – I asked Dave to come round and have a look and he just flatly refused to.
“I’ve known Dave a long time but the etiquette he had in that match, not just in that incident, was horrendous.
“I’ve never known him to be like that, ever.
“It was just bad manners – we’re all out there wanting to play matches and play well but we don’t need bad manners, do we?
“I haven’t got issues with David now – it’s just the situation could have been dealt with a lot better by all parties.
“Why would I try and intimidate him? That’s just not my way – it’s not like I was intimidating anybody.”
World No.13 Gilbert, who stormed into a 2-0 lead before McLeod won four frames on the spin, accused his opponent of trying to intimidate King and for consistently pushing the boundaries on the table.
He said: “He tries to be intimidating all the time but it wasn’t a free ball and that was that – the ref called it right.
“He didn’t intimidate me but he tried to put the pressure on the ref, but the ref called it right.
“He said to me he was disappointed in me – he obviously wanted me to agree with him and I would have agreed with him if I thought he was right.
“I’m not a cheat in any kind of way – Rory tries borderline with pretty much everything but it wasn’t a free ball so I couldn’t agree with him.
“I think he’s bang out of order for saying that [questioning my integrity] but I’m not too bothered either.
“I think everybody knows that he’s pretty close to the limits sometimes – he’s always commenting, always tutting, tapping and takes so long over such basic shots.”
Leicester player Tom Ford was also in first round action yesterday and edged past China’s Xiao Guodong 4-3.
World No.23 Ford was forced to battle at the Marshall Arena, twice coming from behind but sealing a seven-frame victory after breaks of 75 and 56.
Fellow Leicester player Louis Heathcote was due to play world No.1 Judd Trump last night.
Watch the snooker English Open live on Eurosport, Eurosport app and Quest.