Ronnie O'Sullivan may have claimed that some referees had it in for him, but clearly not Tatiana Woollaston, who he claims is 'by far the best referee in the world'.
Woollaston has long been one of the best referees in the circuit. She first appeared on television in 2011, made her Crucible debut in 2020 and took charge of the Welsh Open and British Open finals.
She will referee this year's World Championship semi-final between Dave Gilbert and Kyren Wilson in Sheffield, a first experience of the one-table setup at the Crucible, where she once again excels.
The Rocket is certainly impressed, saying: “Best referee in the world, mate. By a mile. All day for me. She should do this year's finals.'
Twelve-time women's world champion Reanne Evans said: 'She is a top referee, top, top referee. I really appreciate her, she's a great girl too.
'She deserves the final. She is top class and I hope she makes the finals next year.”
It certainly seems only a matter of time before Woollaston takes charge of the biggest match in the sport, with the widely respected referee held in such high regard throughout.
Paul Collier will referee this year's Crucible final, the fourth time he will take charge of the World Championship showpiece before stepping down from his role to focus on his position as tournament director of the World Snooker Tour.
O'Sullivan's praise for Woollaston comes after he claimed 'some referees had it in for him' after colliding with Desislava Bozhilova during his quarter-final defeat to Stuart Bingham.
In the strange scenario, the referee spotted the black again after O'Sullivan had potted it, but the ball wobbled slightly on a small indentation in the sheet and a nearby red ball became impossible to pot.
The Rocket asked the referee to spot the black again and when she finally managed to stop the ball bouncing on the divet, the red was able to be potted, but O'Sullivan opted not to pot it as he did not focus on felt comfortable winning a ball. advantage that way.
However, after the incident, he told Eurosport: 'Some referees, I think they are targeting me, so I wanted to prove her wrong.
'Then I didn't have a good feeling about having to pocket the ball afterwards. I just wanted to make my point and the point was made.
'I'm not really hungry to win that way. I'm more of a principle person, so once the principle is known, I can sleep at night.'
After the defeat he was asked what had happened and said: “I'm not going to comment on players or referees, it's not worth it.”
'I keep quiet about those kinds of things. I won't comment on players and I won't comment on referees. I just leave it as it is. My life is too good and I don't need the hassle.'
MORE : Ronnie O'Sullivan hit a new low by mocking the female snooker referee
MORE : Ronnie O'Sullivan speaks out after row with snooker referee, telling her to 'chill'
For more stories like this, check out our sports page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news
Facebook, Tweet And Instagram.
