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Ronnie O'Sullivan says snooker is like a "car boot sale" when compared to the glitz and glamour of other sports. The five-time world champion believes snooker has been cheapened and must embrace the more corporate image of Formula One and tennis. O'Sullivan, who reached the last 16 of the UK Championship with a 6-1 thrashing of Michael Georgiou, added: "Snooker is becoming a nothing-type sport -- it's kind of like a car boot sale but with the other sports it's like shopping at Harrods. "They're putting so much of it out there. It's cheap TV. I think snooker has lost that respect amongst other sports out there -- the Olympics is such a massive thing now as are sports like golf and tennis. "You look at Formula One and see beautiful-looking people and you look at snooker and think, 'God' -- you look at some of the qualifiers and it costs a fiver to get into Barnsley." O'Sullivan said the solution lies in the Asian market, where snooker is very popular. "Maybe if it went to China and you found some billionaires out there who would put the sport on and have million pound prize money you could start looking at snooker as a core sport again," he added. "It's all about media and money and business and snooker is nothing compared to Formula One and tennis and the Olympics. They've got corporate people involved and they have a massive say in who is big and who is not big." World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn responded by saying O'Sullivan "should know better". Hearn rebuked the 40-year-old and told him to focus on entertaining crowds, rather than aiming barbs that could offend snooker's valuable stakeholders. Hearn said: "We mustn't be disrespectful to those people who are involved, sponsors and television companies, and the paying fans, to say 'this is a car boot sale of sport'. "I deal with lots and lots of different sports because there are lots of different sports who'd cut their arm off to be in the position snooker is in." When asked about O'Sullivan comparing the sport to Formula One, Hearn told BBC Sport: "As a famous man once said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. "I like normal people, I like working-class people who want to get value for money and want to be entertained by sportsmen who know their job is to entertain. "Ronnie's an entertainer and he should know better than that." Veteran promoter Hearn accepts snooker cannot compete with sports such as tennis, golf and Formula One when it comes to financial rewards, but pointed to the trebling of prize-money available on tour under his chairmanship as proof of its growth. He said it was "a total nonsense" to suggest snooker had lost respect, and pointed to "an awful lot of ticks" in the sport's favour. "It doesn't mean we've finished the journey," Hearn added. "But we need people to be a bit more positive and a bit more helpful to make sure we achieve that journey. "Because if you talk yourself down in this world you'll never get respect in the first place." Elsewhere at the UK Championships in York, world champion Mark Selby joined O'Sullivan in the last 16 with 6-1 victory over Robert Milkins, while 46-year-old Peter Lines -- whose son Oliver also plays in the last 32 on Tuesday -- was beaten 6-2 by Liam Highfield. John Higgins stayed on course for a third title in quick succession with a comprehensive 6-2 win over Ben Woollaston. David Gilbert edged a final frame thriller to beat former semifinalist Ali Carter 6-5, and Belgium's Luca Brecel wasted no time sweeping aside Yu De Lu 6-1. There was also an impressive victory for China's Zhou Yuelong, 18, who overcame his 16-year-old compatriot Yan Bingtao 6-5 having fallen 5-3 behind. Hong Kong's Marco Fu had earlier overcome Mei Xiwen, of China, 6-4 after building a promising 3-0 lead. PA Sport contributed to this article.
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