Ebdon's shot times slowed down considerably over a period, which attracted some criticism – particularly in his match against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2005 World Championship. Resuming at 6–10 down, Ebdon won the first six frames of the evening session, at one stage taking three minutes over a shot, and five minutes to compile a break of 12. Ebdon nevertheless won the match 13–11. Such performances, though lacking fluency, often appear to break his opponent mentally. Ebdon stated after his victory over O'Sullivan, "When I'm trying my hardest I seem to go slow. I don't do it intentionally". When "The Times" described his slow play as "cheating", he sued for libel and lost.