O'Sullivan unrepentant over comments

Ronnie O'Sullivan was unrepentant over his outburst at Stephen Hendry before their Embassy World Snooker Championship showdown.

He insisted he stood by his verbal attack, despite losing 17-13 at The Crucible.

"If he wants to say anything, he can come and say it to me, but to be honest I won't lose too much sleep over Stephen Hendry not talking to me," he said.

O'Sullivan had claimed he had "lost a lot of respect" for Hendry over a much-publicised incident in their 1999 world semi-final meeting.

The Rocket was upset Hendry had made him play again after a miss had been called by the referee, when he felt he had made a genuine attempt to hit the ball.

"He doesn't say anything to me anyway. Some days he looks at you and some days he blanks you. I'd rather he blank me all the time.

"I've got no regrets about what I said and I'll probably say something along the same lines again in the future because I really don't care.

"I don't like the miss rule, but I lost a lot of respect over what he did on that occasion in the world semi-finals three years ago. I've never been as angry as when I came out of that session.

"He has done it before. Other players have said that but he is still a fantastic snooker player. He's a fantastic competitor, an animal on a snooker table.

"Personally I enjoyed those comments and I thought it made for a great atmosphere out there and you should buzz things up a bit.

"There was real tension out there and it was brilliant. Even when I walked out at the end I've never heard a cheer like that before - even when Jimmy White beat me.

"Stephen has a lot of fans. I hope what I said fired him up. I hope I've fired him up for the next few times we meet and I hope he keeps firing me up."