Ronnie O’Sullivan BLASTS English Open snooker organisers - ‘all I can smell is urine!’
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN says the venue for snooker’s English Open smells of “urine” and branded it a “hellhole”.
O’Sullivan is competing for the English Open title and beat Kurt Maflin 4-1 on Monday.
The five-time world champion was playing at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley.
And he claims the venue is a sign World Snooker is “cutting corners”.
"It's such a bad venue, it demotivates you to want to play,” he said after his match.
I've just done an interview and all I can smell is urine
"This is about as bad as I've ever seen. It's a bit of a hellhole."
He added: "I don't know what this gaff is, but I've just done an interview and all I can smell is urine.
"It's just got no atmosphere in there. I'm practising and I've got wires all around the table. There's no security, you've got people running at you left, right and centre.
"It's not the fans' fault. They (World Snooker) obviously haven't got the budget to run it properly.
"I don't know where their budget is but they're cutting corners. I think they should invest in good venues. Players deserve better."
O’Sullivan is a controversial figure in the sport and has previously hit the headlines for his criticism of how snooker is run.
He won the English Open last year, beating Kyren Wilson 9-2 in the final.
That was staged at Barnsley’s Metrodome, with the Manchester’s EventCity hosting the inaugural English Open in 2016.