Ronnie O’Sullivan embroiled in ref row in opening session of Crucible final

Ronnie O’Sullivan accused referee Olivier Marteel of “looking for trouble” after an angry exchange marred the opening session of the World Snooker Championship final against Judd Trump in Sheffield.

Marteel appeared to accuse O’Sullivan of making an obscene gesture after failing to get out of a snooker in the eighth frame, prompting a plainly irritated O’Sullivan to challenge the official to check the camera and insist he “saw nothing”.

O’Sullivan, who ended the session with a 5-3 lead, denied any offence in an interview with Eurosport, saying: “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 the WPBSA disciplinary committee for allegedly making a lewd gesture after missing a black in the 13th frame of his 10-5 first-round win over Dave Gilbert.

The six-time world champion had earlier complained to Marteel about a security guard who was moving in his line of sight during the third frame, then the pair became embroiled in a lengthy exchange over the placing of the white following a miss in the fourth frame.

At the end of the session, O’Sullivan shared a fist-bump with Trump but left the arena without offering Marteel, who is officiating in his first world final, a customary acknowledgement.

The incident marred an action-packed opening session in which Trump took the lead with a break of 72, only for O’Sullivan to capitalise on some poor shot choices by the 2019 champion to win the next five in a row, including two centuries that