Gary Wilson hailed for sportsmanlike gesture to referee as Ronnie O’Sullivan says snooker rival ‘has become a friend’

GARY WILSON was hailed for his “sporting” gesture during his match with Ronnie O’Sullivan.

While competing in the semi-final of the World Tour Championship in Manchester, O’Sullivan had a foul shot called against him.

X/Livesnooker

Ronnie O’Sullivan was penalised for an illegal push shot where his cue touched the cue ball at the same time as the blue ball here[/caption]

X/Livesnooker

Gary Wilson confronted referee Paul Collierover the illegal shot call[/caption]

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O’Sullivan said after the game that he ‘loves’ Wilson and rates him highly[/caption]

Referee Paul Collier deemed O’Sullivan, 48, to have done a push shot – a shot when the cue ball and object ball are touching while a players cue is also touching the cue ball – as he potted the blue ball.

It came when the Rocket was still level at 5-5 with Wilson in the 11th frame in the best of 19 match and saw Wilson awarded five extra points.

Following the judgement, O’Sullivan and Wilson could be seen conversing over the table.

The Tyneside Terror then asked Collier about the decision, though it did not change his mind.

O’Sullivan could be seen smiling at Wilson before raising a hand in acknowledgement.

Taking to social media, one fan said: “One back in his favour after the other frame when Gary clearly hit the red first, refs having a mare tonight.”

A second said: “When your opponent is saying it isn’t then the referee has definitely got it wrong!”

A third added: “Great sportsmanship by Gary Wilson.”

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Another said: “Awful decision.”

O’Sullivan went on to win the game 10-7 against the World No13.

Following the game, he said: “No I really rate Gary. I mean I played him years ago in the qualifier – don’t know where it was – but I was 4-0 up then he came back at me 4-3 and didn’t miss a ball and I beat him 5-3.

“He came up to me afterwards and asked me ‘is there anything wrong with my game’ and I said ‘there’s nothing wrong with your game mate, you play good stuff’.

“Yeah me and Gary have become good friends. He’s an honest bloke, you hear his interviews and how he is on his interviews is how he is in real life.

“I love him, I think he’s a great lad and [it’s] great to see him winning tournaments.

“He loves the game that much that he gets frustrated sometimes. He’s a bit like me thinking ‘why can’t I play well like 70-80 per cent of the time’.

“But I think he’s learning you can’t always play well but just give yourself a chance and sometimes having that patience is key.”

He added on social media later on: “That was a great game
@Gary_Wilson11!

“The crowd were brilliant too! I had to dig deep tonight and I’m happy I got it done and got the win. Looking forward to the final on Sunday now.”

The final for the Championship is tomorrow with a cool £150,000 on the line for the winner, though losing semi-finalist Wilson still walked away with £40,000.

O’Sullivan will face the winner of today’s semi-final between Mark Allen and Mark Williams.

You can keep up with all the action with our dedicated snooker blog here.