Ronnie O’Sullivan is never too far away from drama and that was exactly the case at the 2023 Welsh Open.

O’Sullivan came up against Scottish rival Ross Muir in the last 64 as he looked to win the tournament for a sensational fifth time.

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The 49-year-old began strongly and secured a 3-2 lead over Muir, even though the tip of his cue came off twice in the opening two frames.

But in the sixth frame, it all came to a head as O’Sullivan fell foul of a key rule.

Muir played an intelligent shot that left his rival in a tight spot, forcing him to attempt a two-cushion escape.

Unfortunately for O’Sullivan, he missed his first two attempts.

Due to those misses, referee Luise Kraatz stepped in to inform O’Sullivan that should he produce another wayward shot, he would lose the entire frame due to the three-miss rule.

She also told O’Sullivan there was a red that could be hit full ball that was poking outside the grouping on the table.

But when it came time for O’Sullivan’s third attempt, he hammered the cue ball into a pink that was in the pack and missed the red Kraatz had pointed out.

Such was the force of O’Sullivan’s shot, the cue ball rebounded against the side of the table and flew onto the floor below.

It left Kraatz no choice but to hand the frame to Muir, levelling the match at 3-3.

O’Sullivan went back to his chair to pour himself a glass of water and simply stared off into the distance.

Eurosport

Referee Kratz informed O’Sullivan the frame would be over if he missed a third time[/caption]

Eurosport

He had to hit the red full ball that was poking out of the pack, but he missed it[/caption]

Speaking on Eurosport’s broadcast, former snooker star Neal Foulds felt O’Sullivan’s foul may have been a result of his frustrations with the referee’s decision but was glad no-one got taken out by the airborne cue ball.

“Ronnie barely looked at the last one,” Foulds said.

“I’m not sure if he wasn’t pleased with the decision. Not much good news come out of this.

“He’s been informed that he can see that left red full ball. It’s not like a free ball you’ve got to hit either side. Yes, there’s reds in the way. That’s irrelevant.

“The only good news is the cue ball didn’t kill anybody. Other than that, it’s all bad if you’re an O’Sullivan fan.

“No-one got hurt, we’re still alive and we’ve got a deciding frame.”

Eurosport

O’Sullivan cut a frustrated figure after the miss but rebounded to win the match[/caption]

Fortunately for O’Sullivan, he regained his composure to take out the deciding frame and beat Muir 4-3.

O’Sullivan made it to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Welsh Open where he was bundled out by China’s Tian Pengfei 5-0.

The 49-year-old did not participate in last year’s Welsh Open due to ‘stage fright’.

However, O’Sullivan has confirmed he will return to the field at the 2025 iteration of the tournament as he seeks to become a five-time champion.