{"id":297057,"date":"2023-12-03T19:54:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T19:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=297057"},"modified":"2023-12-03T19:54:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T19:54:07","slug":"ronnie-osullivan-thanked-by-uk-championship-ref-after-classy-move-in-ding-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/nba\/ronnie-osullivan-thanked-by-uk-championship-ref-after-classy-move-in-ding-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronnie O’Sullivan thanked by UK Championship ref after classy move in Ding final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stars attend green carpet for Ronnie O’Sullivan documentary<\/h3>\n

Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan was thanked by snooker referee Rob Spencer after the Rocket called a foul on himself that the official appeared to miss in the UK Championship final against Ding Junhui. The 47-year-old led 4-1 at the time and had an opportunity to extend his lead inside the Barbican in York, but pointed out his error in a classy gesture.<\/p>\n

He was trailing 21-19 in the sixth frame but had an opportunity to build a strong break, though was facing a tricky shot on a red to the bottom corner. The white ball was just ahead of a pack of reds, forcing O\u2019Sullivan to bring out plenty of equipment to make the shot without fouling.<\/p>\n

He used the spider on top of the regular rest, rarely seen in matches, but took a considerably long time and was clearly doubting whether he could make the shot. As he aimed his cue down in order to connect with the white ball, he accidentally brushed a red with his cue which resulted in a foul and four points to his opponent.<\/p>\n

The referee did not initially notice the foul, but O\u2019Sullivan immediately pulled his cue away from the table and informed the official that he had slightly made contact with the red. This prompted Spender to reply \u201cthank you, Ronnie\u201d as the Barbican crowd rose to the Rocket a standing ovation for his honesty.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

“He has touched the red, so at the end of all of that, he has fouled four away,\u201d Eurosport commentator Phillip Studd said. “There is applause from the crowd for the honesty with Ding back at the table, and he now has the same shot.”<\/p>\n

Ding, having already been given four points for O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s indiscretion, then showed his quality by potting the difficult red that his opponent struggled with. This came when the Chinese star was three frames down and staring at the prospect of watching the match drift away in favour of the man who has already won the tournament seven times.<\/p>\n