Shaun Murphy has accused Ronnie O’ Sullivan of verbally abusing him back when he was 12 years old.The duo have shared snooker’s spotlight for many years having battled for the sport’s major prizes.Shaun Murphy has opened up on an alleged incident that took place 30 years agoGettyBut in the heat of battle, the pair haven’t always been on best terms having been embroiled in a few verbal exchanges along the way.However, Murphy claims the pair’s gripes began when he was a child.What did Murphy say about the incident?“We fell out when I was young,” Murphy told David Hendon for the book Pots of Gold: A History of Snooker:“Ronnie verbally abused me when I was 12 and I never forgave him. I vividly remember it.“I still have immense respect for his levels of play as a snooker player. I watch in awe at the things he’s able to do, because I know how hard it is.“His ability as a player is completely unmatched.”The ‘Rocket’ has not yet responded to the accusation that would have allegedly taken place when he was 18.The pair have played against each other just twice in the last five years.That match took place at the 2024 Masters which saw O’Sullivan beat Murphy 6-2.The damage is doneMurphy has never been one to mince his words and carried on that trend by claiming O’Sullivan had not done enough as an ambassador for the sport despite his incredible snooker accomplishments.Murphy accused Ronnie O’Sullivan of verbally abusing him when he was a childGetty“One of the reasons I idolised Steve Davis so much was I was brought up in a world where being the greatest meant a lot more than how good you were at playing snooker,” Murphy added.“Unfortunately, for all of the good things Ronnie has done in terms of his snooker ability, I think he’s done an equal amount of, if not more, damage to the sport from an ambassadorial point of view.“I think it’s such a shame that he hasn’t done for snooker in his ambassadorial position the things that people he says he looks up to – like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – have done.“That he hasn’t taken a leaf out of their book and treated the sport that’s given him so much the same level of respect.“If he had used his platform for good, he could have single-handedly dragged snooker into a different stratosphere in terms of popularity. He could have made us much more mainstream.”However, Murphy has shown his appreciation for O’ Sullivan’s glittering career which included a record eight Masters titles, eight UK titles and seven world championships.Murphy has heaped praise on O’Sullivan’s accomplishments in snookerGetty“When you just look at the numbers in that question. He needs a world title to make it 8-8-8, it’s ridiculous,’ Murphy said on the onefourseven Snooker podcast earlier this year.“I’ve worked my nuts off to win my four and he’s got 23. It’s obscene.”