Defending Embassy world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed his dislike of seven-time winner Stephen Hendry, only a few hours before the pair meet in the Championship semi-final this afternoon.

In the interview following his win over Stephen Lee in the quarter-finals, O'Sullivan admitted that he didn't "give a monkey's" whether he managed to defend his title successfully but was desperate to beat Hendry, claiming he lost all respect for the Scot when he accused O'Sullivan of a deliberate miss when they last met at the Crucible.

"I played him in the semi-finals a couple of years ago and we had this miss rule," explained O'Sullivan.

"You know when a certain player has made a genuine attempt and a miss was called against me. I really thought a lot of Stephen until he had that ball put back, and he really did go down in my estimations after that. There is not a lot of respect there at all.

"The most satisfying thing for me would be to send him home to Scotland as quickly as possible for a nice summer off.

"I'll say hello to him because it's hard to ignore someone - but he's not my cup of tea."

"I know if I do get beat and he comes up and does a moonie in front of me and goes 'nah nah nah', I'll just look at him and say 'well done' and say 'go back to your sad little life'.

O'Sullivan used to share Hendry's manager Ian Doyle, and it is seems that the bad feeling may date back to that time.

"I was always second in the pecking order to Hendry," moaned O'Sullivan."I have no respect for them at all. It's just one massive clique. No one in his (Doyle's) stable will ever do well because the vibe is there.

"That's why I've done so well since I've left him. Maybe some other players would do well if they left him, but I don't think they'll have the bottle."

However, O'Sullivan does not seem to care how well he plays at the moment and claimed he wasn't even trying when he overcame Lee 13-10 last night.

"I didn't even try and just went for my shots, hit through the ball a sweetly as I could.

"I felt relaxed. Even if it had gone 12-12 I'm in such a funny mood at the moment where I don't care whether I win or I lose.

"I'd love to win but it really doesn't matter to me. I really don't give a monkey's. It's only a game. I don't need the money. I'm good for money."