Victorious O'Sullivan loses cool in TV interview

RONNIE O'Sullivan kept his composure in the arena but lost it in a television interview backstage after firing three brilliant centuries to knock Mark Williams out of the Betfred.com World Championship.

The three-time champion took offence at being described as his "own harshest critic" in a BBC interview and warned he would walk out if that point was put to him again.

But considering the Crucible audience were on their feet to acclaim his brilliant 13-10 win against Williams, while O'Sullivan saw little to enjoy from the performance, it hardly seemed like the grotesque assessment it was clearly taken to be.

"If someone says that to me again I'm going to stop the interview," O'Sullivan told interviewer Rob Walker. "I'm fed up with hearing that.

"When you play poor snooker, you play poor snooker. I don't listen to people saying I'm my own harshest critic. You don't know what you're talking about."

O'Sullivan, who last week stuck his middle finger up at a red ball following a missed pot, claimed "sheer panic and desperation" inspired him to produce the five-star snooker which carried him past Williams.

Breaks of 53, 104, 75, 111 and 106 came from the cue of O'Sullivan in the deciding session, and Welshman Williams later said of his conqueror: "Everything about his game is spot on. The only person who can beat him in this World Championship is himself."

Graeme Dott is the only Scot left at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry last night followed Stephen Maguire, John Higgins and Marcus Campbell in exiting the tournament.

An off-form Hendry was soundly beaten 13-5 by Mark Selby, who now faces O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals.