The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
O’ Sullivan defends remarks
Snooker: Five-time world champion remains critical of English Open venue
Ronnie O’Sullivan has stood by his scathing criticism of the English Open venue, insisting he does not want to be “traipsing through kids with snorkels” on his way to a match.
The five-time world champion called the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley a “hellhole” and said he could smell urine in the player interview area after his first-round win on Monday.
O’Sullivan expanded on his criticism yesterday as fellow players Stephen Maguire and Mark Allen also expressed concerns.
“I don’t think it is harsh at all, the facts are the facts,” the 42-year-old said.
“I think the venue is OK, what they should do is hire the whole back of the venue rather than have the snooker part here, and then you have to walk through the bowling green to the press conference.
“When I was walking through there yesterday (former world champion) Peter Ebdon was walking through and one old boy shouted ‘Can you stop walking while I’m trying to play bowls?’.
“Peter looked around because he thought he was joking but he was really serious and he went ‘I’m going to start walking through when you are playing snooker’.
“You have to go through the main foyer – you don’t want to be traipsing through families going swimming with kids with snorkels and flip-flops on and you’re about to play a match or to do a press conference.”
On his claims about the urine smell, defending champion O’Sullivan added: “They put me by some toilet and I had to stand there for four or five minutes and all I could smell was urine.”
O’Sullivan, who claimed on Monday that World Snooker had cut corners because it did not have the budget for the event, suggested players would settle for reduced prize money if it meant providing a better environment.
World number 16 Stephen Maguire agreed that the West Sussex leisure centre is not suited to stage the tournament, which is part of the Home Nations Series and was held in Barnsley in 2017.
“I’ll be honest, if I lose here, I’ll take it easier than some of the tournaments
“I don’t think it’s harsh at all. The facts are the facts”
because then I can just go home and get away from this place,” the Scot said after his 4-3 success over James Cahill.
“We’re here to do a job and it’s a high-pressure job and it just doesn’t feel like the right place to me. It doesn’t feel professional.”
World Snooker, in a statement released on Monday, said it was surprised by O’Sullivan’s comments and reaction from other players had been “overwhelmingly positive”.
The venue, meanwhile, said it was “sorry and disappointed” to hear the negative feedback.
Masters champion Mark Allen, a 4-2 victor over Anthony Hamilton, said: “You hear Ronnie’s version and you hear World Snooker’s version, I am somewhere in the middle probably. I’ve played in better, but I’ve played in worse as well.”