Stuart Bingham denies "beef" with Ronnie O’Sullivan
O’Sullivan leads Bingham 6-2 following the first session (credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images))
Stuart Bingham has dismissed rumours of a rift with Ronnie O’Sullivan following an incident in their Tour Championship Quarter-Final on Tuesday.
O’Sullivan reacted angrily to missing an attempted pot by punching the table and received no verbal warning from the referee.
Soon after, Bingham also missed a routine pot and motioned to rap his knuckle on the table, much to the amusement of the Llandudno crowd.
It was unclear as to whether Bingham was mimicking the actions of his opponent or was simply frustrated at his own performance, however the 2015 World Champion took to Twitter at the close of play to clarify his actions.
‘A lot of people saying I’ve got beef with Ronnie, not at all!’ wrote Bingham.
‘The last time I punched the table, I got spoken to by Rob Spencer in Cardiff! I’ve heard nothing since from anyone so when Ronnie punches the table I thought he would’ve got spoken to as well.
‘When he didn’t I was surprised and questioned the ref at the end of the frame and he didn’t give me a good enough reason.
‘I’ve since asked Paul Collier in the tournament office about my own situation and it was all sorted but no one told me about it so I was a bit upset about it all, nothing to do with it being Ronnie, just the ruling!’
O’Sullivan established a commanding 6-2 lead following the first session, compiling three century breaks, and will look to close out the job when they resume from 7pm on Wednesday.