Barry Hearn has hit back at Ronnie O’Sullivan’s claim that he is ready to form a breakaway competition and called it a “cranky scheme”.

O’Sullivan, the five-time world champion, speaking at the UK Championship on Sunday, claimed he was “ready to go” and kick-off a Champions League-style tour for the elite players.

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Unhappy with playing conditions at venues he considers remote, along with a 128-player flat draw, O’Sullivan reckoned he was “just waiting for four or five unhappy players” to join him.

The world No 5, Judd Trump, said O’Sullivan was “living on a different planet” and Hearn, World Snooker’s chairman, was more scathing. While acknowledging the 42-year-old, who beat Zhou Yuelong 6-0 on Monday to reach the last 16 on Wednesday, is a “genius” with a cue, he told BBC 5 Live: “[I am] incredulous as usual with Ronnie. He gets headlines, I will give him that, but it’s a nonsensical thought. Ronnie needs someone to play and it’s quite clear there is not one single player on the 128-member pro tour that will ever trust Mr O’Sullivan and his rather cranky schemes.

He’s a genius and a fabulous player but off the table he gets carried away and should be a little more mature with his comments.”

Hearn’s remarks came during O’Sullivan’s routine third-round win at the game’s second-biggest event, which he has already won six times and now pays £170,000 to its winner.

Shortly after that O’Sullivan was interviewed by the six-time world champion Steve Davis, who had already said that, while players look up to O’Sullivan’s abilities, they do not feel the same about his comments.

The pair, along with the BBC TV presenter Hazel Irvine and the 1997 world champion, Ken Doherty, had an animated exchange, with O’Sullivan conceding he does not want to break away and would rather World Snooker made changes. “There are some simple things to be done to make it fairer for the top players,” he said.

“I don’t want to go nowhere but I’m not going to wait. I’m not an entrepreneur but, if tweaks don’t happen, I’m not going to sit here and not do myself justice.”

Put to him by Davis that he could retire if he is unhappy, O’Sullivan said: “I don’t want to retire. I love playing. I haven’t had enough. I like to perform. It’s nice to play in front of packed crowds.”

O’Sullivan wants World Snooker to make it simpler for the top players to qualify for the main events and not have to travel from country to country to chase the ranking points. Roger Federer would not be asked to “qualify for Wimbledon at Richmond Park”, he added, and says breakaway talk came about because “I want to be No 1 and make the live TV events”.

O’Sullivan says that under the current set-up he has to “go backwards and forwards” to events in order to try and stay in the top 16.