NEIL ROBERTSON has revealed he was forced to explain his “awful” comment to Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The 2010 world champion had suggested the Rocket was not playing well in the early part of some tournaments this year.
Robertson said in January: “You can get very comfortable and complacent when you’re just cruising into the last 16, quarter-finals, with your opponents falling over the line.
“We’ve probably seen that with Ronnie recently, let’s have it right he’s played pretty awful, but he’s been able to keep winning because people keep missing blacks off the spot, pinks off the spot.
“He’s gained that reputation of being unbeatable this season even though he’s played awful.”
O’Sullivan has won two ranking events this season and heads into this month’s World Championships as the world number one.
Robertson has now revealed he had to explain himself to the seven-time world champion after his “pretty awful” comments.
He told Eurosport: “I got slaughtered earlier in the season for saying Ronnie was playing awful in the tournaments early on.
“It was a compliment, but a couple of papers ran with it saying I thought he was terrible which was nonsense.
“Actually to the point when I spoke to Ronnie, and I said you know what I’m saying, and he just laughed it off.
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“He knew what I was saying. When you get to the semis and final, that’s when you really take the tournament on.”
Former world number one Robertson must go through qualifying to book his place at the World Championships after slipping to 24th in the rankings.
The Australian must come through two rounds of qualifying to appear at the Crucible, starting on Saturday.
Meanwhile, second seed O’Sullivan is already assured of a spot in the draw for the tournament, which begins on April 20.
