RONNIE O’SULLIVAN claimed a battling victory over rival Matt Selt who once labelled him an “absolute c***”.
The Rocket, 48, led 3-0 in the Xi’an Grand Prix quarter-final clash, before his Romford-born opponent, 39, rallied to level things up at 4-4 and send the match to a ninth frame decider.
But O’Sullivan got over the line in the end to book his place in the last four and add another victory to the start of his season following wins over Bulcsu Revesz, Sijun Yuan and Hossein Vafaei.
And this one may have been even sweeter given Selt’s trash talk about the seven-time champion in the past.
World No37 Selt was involved in an exchange with a snooker fan on his Instagram story when it had been put to him that O’Sullivan was a bad role model.
To which he replied: “Rather not play than be an absolute c*** of a human.”
He also went on to add that O’Sullivan was the “biggest p**** on tour”
However, Selt, who has won one ranking title, has also given O’Sullivan his dues in the past when discussing the greatest players of all time.
He told Eurosport: “”I’ve always had respect for him.
“Ronnie scares the living s*** out of me. When I play him, I just can’t breathe.”
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O’Sullivan claimed an eighth Masters title and eighth UK Championship last season.
But he missed out on an eighth world championship after losing 13-10 to Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals.
Kyren Wilson went on to win his first Crucible title, with O’Sullivan set to face the reigning world champion in the semi-finals of the Xi’an Grand Prix.
