Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Zhang Anda 4-1 in the opening round of the English Open on Tuesday. He did so wear blue runners rather than the more traditional black shoes donned by snooker players.
As Jimmy White explained on commentary for Eurosport, O'Sullivan wore the runners as he had sprained his ankle while out running.
He's back doing his favourite pastime of running. He had a fall and he sprained his ankle. He's got a strap on his ankle. He's playing in the trainers because obviously his shoes would be uncomfortable for him.
On Tuesday night, O'Sullivan tweeted that his blue footwear had been deemed no longer acceptable by World Snooker. He would have to find black runners instead.
Being told by world snooker that if I don’t wear a black training shoe tommorow I can’t play #sprainedankle
— Ronnie O'Sullivan (@ronnieo147) October 17, 2017
Looks like I’ll have to pull out of the English open cause someone’s not happy I’m wearing a trainer due to a sprained ankle
— Ronnie O'Sullivan (@ronnieo147) October 17, 2017
O'Sullivan is scheduled to play Mark Davis in the second round on Wednesday evening. He says that if he does not find some black runners by 7pm, he'll "be on the sofa talking about snooker rather then playing snooker."
I need suitable trainers for this bad boy pic.twitter.com/IoCNTrr242
— Ronnie O'Sullivan (@ronnieo147) October 18, 2017
It is the latest episode in a long-running saga of squabbles between O'Sullivan and snooker's governing body.
