By Phil Harlow BBC Sport at The Crucible

O'Sullivan overcomes Hicks

They say you hurt the ones you love, and that certainly seems to be the case with Ronnie O'Sullivan and the media.

O'Sullivan is the biggest draw - and most fascinating personality - in snooker and provides countless column inches for a sport that can sometimes struggle for media attention.

But it was this same media coverage which caused O'Sullivan to give an assemblage of journalists a frank, and not entirely complimentary, piece of his mind after his match against Andy Hicks.

The 28-year-old was seriously unimpressed with the reporting of his decision to walk out and concede a frame while Hicks was still compiling a break on Thursday.

He strolled into the post-match news conference and pronounced to the waiting reporters: "I'm very disappointed with you guys and the way you've portrayed me.

"I'm a very private person and I've come through a lot in my life and I'll keep coming back whatever you try and do - and have done to me over the years.

"I'm just disappointed and I'm just going to leave it there."

But it seems unlikely that Saturday's newspapers will "just leave it there."

It has to be said that O'Sullivan's behaviour during the match was not that of your average snooker player at The Crucible.

It's been a long time since anyone saw Graeme Dott display the same incredible mixture of petulance and brilliance at a snooker table.

The Rocket knocked in five tremendous centuries but also threw in a couple of obscene hand gestures (use your imagination - yep that's right), a punch of the table and a steady stream of mouthed obscenities.

He also seemed to make a point to those who criticised him on Thursday for conceding the frame to Hicks, pointlessly playing on from a hopeless position without even attempting to play for the several snookers he would require.

Where would we be without him?

There were some laughs to be had at the news conference though after the dressing down from O'Sullivan.

Despite his defeat, Andy Hicks was in upbeat mood after the end of his most successful season since his mid-1990s heyday.

But in terms of how to win friends and influence people, the nameless hack who called him "Quinten" was treading on thin ice.

Fortunately the 30-year-old saw the funny side and joined in with the hilarity.

Paul Hunter and Matthew Stevens are the best of mates away from the snooker table, but the opening frame of a tense second-round encounter is not the place to start having a laugh and a joke.

Or is it? Hunter got himself into difficulties as he looked to continue a promising break with the help of a cue extension.

But after several attempts while trying to maintain his cool, Hunter began to realise the extension was not attaching itself to his cue.