Ronnie O’Sullivan has branded the venue for the English Open a “hellhole” and claimed he could smell urine in the player interview area.
The five-time world champion says event organiser World Snooker is “cutting corners” because he feels the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley is not of a good enough standard for this week’s tournament.
O’Sullivan was speaking after winning his opening match against Kurt Maflin 4-1 yesterday.
The 42-year-old said on the BBC: “It’s such a bad venue, it demotivates you to want to play.
“This is about as bad as I’ve ever seen. It’s a bit of a hellhole.”
He added: “I don’t know what this gaff is, but I’ve just done an interview and all I can smell is urine.
“It’s just got no atmosphere in there. I’m practising and I’ve got wires all around the table. There’s no security, you’ve got people running at you left, right and centre.
“It’s not the fans’ fault. They (World Snooker) obviously haven’t got the budget to run it properly.
“I don’t know where their budget is but they’re cutting corners. I think they should invest in good venues. Players deserve better.”
English Open snooker – how to watch
Live coverage of the event in the UK comes from Eurosport.
Below you can find the live TV schedule for today’s play:
12.45pm: John Higgins vs Li Yuan – Eurosport 1
6.45pm: Judd Trump vs Robin Hull – Eurosport 1
Existing customers can also stream the action via the Eurosport player, which can be downloaded across a host of devices.
Can I watch English Open snooker for FREE?
A number of betting companies are also broadcasting the English Open for free on their platforms.
UK betting companies have what is called a ‘watch and bet’ licence which means they can show matches alongside live odds.
Usually, there is no commentary or production and the stream basically consists of a live feed of the action.
Snooker fans wanting to watch these streams must be over the age of 18 and comply with each betting provider’s specific Terms and Conditions.
So, if you already have a betting account, or are thinking of getting one, check with the company to see if you have free access to the English Open.
English Open snooker: Today’s order of play
First Round – best of seven frames (All times BST)
10am:
Stephen Maguire v James Cahill
Fergal O’Brien v Jack Lisowski
Mei Xiwen v James Wattana
Luke Simmonds v Zhang Jiankang
John Astley v Lukas Kleckers
Soheil Vahedi v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Thor Chuan Leong v Hamza Akbar
Zhang Anda v Matthew Selt
Not before 1pm:
Jimmy White v Lyu Haotian
Sam Baird v Liam Highfield
Lee Walker v Jak Jones
Rod Lawler v Sam Craigie
Lu Ning v Robert Milkins
Elliot Slessor v Sean O’Sullivan
John Higgins v Li Yuan
Mark Allen v Anthony Hamilton
Ricky Walden v Hammad Miah
Alexander Ursenbacher v Kishan Hirani
Kyren Wilson v Akani Songsermsawad
Stuart Bingham v Duane Jones
Not before 4.30pm:
Luca Brecel v Niu Zhuang
Gerard Greene v David Gilbert
Not before 7pm:
Farakh Ajaib v Yuan SiJun
Harvey Chandler v Noppon Saengkham
Xiao Guodong v Steven Hallworth
Andrew Higginson v Jordan Brown
Paul Davison v Zhou Yuelong
Xu Si v Chris Totten
Judd Trump v Robin Hull
Jimmy Robertson v Michael Holt
Not before 8pm:
Barry Hawkins v Peter Lines
Ashley Carty v Mark King