London (AFP) - Snooker great Ronnie O'Sullivan took a 5-3 over lead over Judd Trump in the World Championship final on Sunday after becoming involved in an angry exchange with referee Olivier Marteel.
O'Sullivan, bidding to equal Stephen Hendry's modern-day record of seven world titles, appeared to be accused by the match official of making an obscene gesture after failing to get out of a snooker in the eighth frame at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre.
That led O'Sullivan, 46, to challenge Marteel by asking the Belgian referee and insist that he "saw nothing".
O'Sullivan was adamant he had not been abusive towards Marteel, telling Eurosport in an interview after the end of the first session: "I just think he (Marteel) seems to be looking for trouble.I just get that vibe from the guy.
"They've got hundreds of cameras out there and they can go and check them all.I'm not going to have any of it because I think he's just trying to create something.He needs to deal with it, not me."
O'Sullivan is already facing an investigation by snooker authorities for allegedly making a lewd gesture after missing a black in the 13th frame of his 10-5 first-round win over Dave Gilbert.
O'Sullivan had earlier complained to Marteel, who is officiating in his first world final, about a security guard who was moving in his line of sight during the third frame.
The next frame saw the pair involved in a lengthy argument over the placing of the cue ball following a miss.
At the end of the first session in this best of 35-frame contest, O'Sullivan shared a fist bump with Trump but did not offer a similar courtesy to Marteel as is customary.
Trump, the 2019 world champion, made an impressive start in an all-English final by taking the first frame with a break of 72.
O'Sullivan, however, pounced on several Trump errors to win five frames in a row, a run that included two century breaks.
Rows between players and officials in snooker are rare events but tension mounted in the fourth frame when O'Sullivan insisted the white had been wrongly replaced by Marteel following a miss.
He twice involved Trump in the discussion and at one point jokingly said Marteel should play the shot himself before the referee insisted play must continue.
O'Sullivan eventually won that frame by potting a re-spotted black.
Trump was in danger of being overwhelmed and conceding a lead that might prove decisive, even in a long-form match.
But he regained his composure with a break of 97, having himself been annoyed by Marteel's intervention, before winning the next as well to reduce the deficit to two frames.
Trump asked Marteel why his comments to O'Sullivan could not have waited until the end of the session, with the referee replying: "I had to say something."
The match resumes at 1800 GMT Sunday and will be played to a finish on Monday.
