Ronnie O'Sullivan branded a 'pain in the a**' as snooker star given special treatment over rivals
Ronnie O'Sullivan has had a few run-ins with Barry Hearn
PA
Matchroom Sport founder Barry Hearn has admitted that Ronnie O'Sullivan is given special treatment as snooker's main attraction - despite their often difficult relationship.
O'Sullivan and Hearn haven't always seen eye-to-eye over the years and the snooker star's father branded the former World Snooker Tour chairman a 'car boot salesman' in an explosive rant earlier this year.
The seven-time world champion also called out Hearn to increase the prize money currently on offer in world snooker last year.
It prompted an angry response from Hearn, who said the snooker legend was 'bang out of order'.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has had a few run-ins with Barry Hearn
PABut Hearn feels unable to reprimand O'Sullivan as he might with other players due to the 48-year-old's importance to the sport.
O'Sullivan still frustrates Hearn, but the 76-year-old has learned to tolerate his outbursts.
He said on his podcast: "The one thing I've learned as I get older is that geniuses are different.
"They're a different type of person than you normally come across and the danger is you treat them the same as you treat an ordinary person.
"I'm not being disrespectful to the other players, but geniuses are different. Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins was different. You can't cater for them.
"In many ways, you have to give them that rope because they are your entertainment factor. They're your wow factor.
"If you got them saying, yes, sir, no, sir, they wouldn't be the same animal.
"And by the way, there is absolutely no chance that Ronnie O'Sullivan is ever going to say, yes, sir, no, sir.
Barry Hearn does not always see eye-to-eye with Ronnie O'Sullivan
PA"Ronnie can be a pain in the a** for me and for snooker, but we'd be so much poorer without him.
"You can't ignore the rules per se, but what you can do is give a little bit of rope and understand that he's coming at it from a different perspective than you because he's the genius and you're not.
"To my mind, when I watch him on a complicated break, it's Renoir putting together a masterpiece."
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Ronnie O'Sullivan has pulled out of the Wuhan Open
PAO'Sullivan has not played competitively since losing to He Guoqiang at the English Open last month.
He subsequently pulled out of the British Open just hours before his scheduled match against Manasawin Phetmalaikul.
And the English snooker star has withdrawn from this week's Wuhan Open, where he was set to face Mitchell Mann in the opening round on Sunday.