World Snooker Championship: Mark Williams slams Ronnie O'Sullivan for 'disrespectful' comments

O'Sullivan fought back from 7-2 down to beat the Welshman 13-10 in the quarter-finals and while Williams had no problem with the manner of the loss, he did take issue with comments O'Sullivan made about other players before their contest.

Talking about the standard of emerging new talent O'Sullivan said: "You see them play and I think to myself 'I'd have to lose an arm and a leg to fall out of the top 50'".

However, three-time World Champion Williams believes such comments are unfair and do not help the sport.

"I have the utmost respect for Ronnie. I've grown up with him since the age of 12, but I don't agree with some of the comments he's made in this tournament," said Williams.

"Most of the stuff he says is total nonsense. The stuff about other players at the tournament. We can't all be as good as him, but we are all trying our best.

"Ronnie is the main headline of the sport, he's our pinnacle, so people listen to him. You'd never get Roger Federer or Tiger Woods speaking about fellow pros like that. It's disrespectful.

"We can't all be as good as Ronnie. We aren't as good as him, but we are trying our best.

"There are talents coming through. There's a 16-year-old (Jamie Wilson) coming through Q School, and a few others, you have to give them time to develop, learn and get better."