Ronnie O’Sullivan could be set for a fine after playing with no shoes on for some of his World Championship opener against Craig Steadman yesterday.
In terms of the scoreline, the five-times champion O’Sullivan enjoyed a relatively comfortable time, emerging from the first session of the encounter – that had begun with him making a century break – with a 7-2 lead.
But the world No2, who suffered a broken ankle last year, appeared in discomfort and opted to remove his shoes, briefly playing on in his socks.
Having been informed of his breach of dress code, O’Sullivan asked the Crucible crowd if he could borrow a pair, before wearing some given to him by Mike Ganley, the tournament director.
However, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association will look into the matter to consider whether it constitutes a breach of its rules.
China’s Ding Junhui missed out on a 147 break after forgetting he was on track to complete one. Ding was trailing Mark Davis 5-3 and was on a break of 96 when he inexplicably screwed back for the blue ball instead of playing for the black.
After realising his mistake, Ding regained his composure and went on to claim a 10-7 win over Davis.
