Funny smells, Aussie accents and robots – five times the Rocket has taken off

Ronnie O’Sullivan has been railing against the facilities at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley during the ongoing English Open.

O’Sullivan followed his second-round win by insisting that “every day in Crawley is a day lost in my life” and criticising the equipment, claiming: “They probably didn’t have the budget to get some decent rests.”

On Thursday, prior to the start of his third-round match against Hossein Vafaei, O’Sullivan took to Twitter to criticise the perceived cleanliness of the venue’s restaurant.

But World Snooker hit back, denying O’Sullivan’s allegations, describing the area as “spotless” and insisting: “That picture isn’t current as the restaurant area was refurbished six months ago.”

Here, the PA news agency takes a look back at some other memorable outbursts from the ‘Rocket’.

2018/19: English Open, Crawley

The floor at K2 Crawley Restaraunt not looking too clean ??? #hygiene #healthandsafety pic.twitter.com/7MOJfrPhYM

— Ronnie O’Sullivan (@ronnieo147) October 17, 2019

O’Sullivan’s social media jibe at the restaurant was just his latest criticism of the Crawley venue, which began in 2018 when he declared it not good enough to host the tournament. He called it a “hellhole” and added: “I don’t know what this gaff is but I’ve just done an interview and all I can smell is urine.”

2019: Coral Players’ Championship, Preston

A trip to Preston for some snooker and Ronnie ‘Aussie’ O’Sullivan pic.twitter.com/33FIaGpz2b

— Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) March 8, 2019

O’Sullivan baffled interviewers when he began answering questions in an Australian accent after his win over Barry Hawkins. O’Sullivan said: “When you talk Aussie, the Aussies are just winners mate, you know? You’ve got to love a winner”.