CRAIG Steadman admits his first Crucible Theatre experience has left him desperate for more after crashing out of the World Snooker Championship yesterday morning.

The Bolton cueman could not live with Ronnie O’Sullivan’s ruthlessly clinical display in their first-round clash as the five-time champion cruised through 10-3.

Steadman won three best-of-19 qualifying matches to reach the Crucible for the first time but things looked bleak as he trailed 7-2 overnight.

A 46 break soon extended O’Sullivan’s advantage to six frames and although the world No.81 offered some resistance to win the next, ‘the Rocket’ wrapped up victory soon after.

And Farnworth's Steadman believes that while he enjoyed the experience, an unfamiliarity with his surroundings ultimately proved costly.

“I did have chances and maybe in the qualifiers, where I’m more used to conditions and am more comfortable, I would have taken a few more of them,” explained Steadman.

“But that’s just my own fault for not getting into these surroundings more often. The atmosphere was great and I loved playing out there.

“Coming to the Crucible is fantastic but I can’t be too pleased because I got beaten and I didn’t come here to get beaten. Hopefully that won’t be the last time I get here.

“I came into the qualifiers on the back of a few defeats, so to put them behind me and qualify was fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of it apart from the result.”

Things are rarely dull when O’Sullivan is around but he outdid himself when deciding to play in just his socks for part of the match against Steadman.

The 39-year-old’s new shoes began to hurt him during Tuesday’s first session, so he took them off at the start of frame six before asking for a more comfortable pair from members of the crowd.

He eventually borrowed tournament director Mike Ganley’s size-eights for the remainder of the session and while the incident caused a fair amount of commotion, Steadman claims he was largely oblivious to what was going on.

“I didn’t even notice Ronnie had taken his shoes off – hand on heart, I didn’t realise even though he was sat right next to me!” he added.

“Then Brendan [Moore, the referee] said he’d have to put his shoes back on, I looked round and he was in his socks.

“I said to him you can use one of mine if you want – we’ll just have one each! But whatever he does makes no difference to what I'm going to do.

“He can take his shoes and socks off and play with his feet, I won’t be bothered. He is what he is – he’s box office for a reason and taking his shoes off is just another thing.”

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