Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed some referees have "got it in for me" after his bid to capture a record eighth world snooker title was crushed by Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals.
Bingham, the 2015 champion, came through 13-10 and will face Welsh qualifier Jak Jones for a place in the final. Jones stunned former champion Judd Trump 13-9 in his quarter-final.
Bingham reeled off the final three frames to seal the win.
His victory was overshadowed by a bizarre incident in the 12th frame involving O'Sullivan and referee Desislava Bozhilova.
O'Sullivan was praised for playing safe rather than opting to pot a red close to the black because he believed the black had not been spotted correctly.
The world No 1, who was 14 points behind and on a break of 20, eventually lost the frame.
But O'Sullivan later hit out at officials, saying: "Some of the refs, I think they've got it in for me, so I just wanted to prove to her that she got it wrong."
O'Sullivan subsequently told Bozhilova to "chill" after an incident in which she asked him to resume playing while he waited for some spectators to retake their seats in the arena.
