Ronnie O'Sullivan: I wasn't "controversial" at World Championship

Ronnie O'Sullivan has admitted that he was surprised to have been labelled as "controversial" for incidents that took place at the World Championship.

The five-time winner hit the headlines for playing in his socks, as well as being handed a warning for using a piece of chalk to line up a shot, but the former world number one believes that he didn't deserve such attention during the tournament.

In his blog for Eurosport.com, the 39-year-old said: "I had needed new shoes for ages. I bought these shoes thinking they were good for snooker, but they weren't. They were tough and pinching my toes. They were so uncomfortable - I had to get them off immediately.

"I can't believe the uproar there was over the chalk. It's not as if I was messing about moving balls.

"It shows you the referee didn't know the rules so how was I supposed to know it was illegal? I was surprised to hear the media saying I was controversial during the World Championship."

O'Sullivan bowed out at the quarter-final stage to eventual winner Stuart Bingham.