Neil Robertson fouls after protestor puts him off during Mark Williams showdown at Hong Kong Masters
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Published 07/10/2022 at 09:04 GMT
A spectator was carted out of the Hong Kong Masters after causing a commotion during Neil Robertson’s match with Mark Williams on Friday. The disturbance caused Robertson to accidentally touch the white ball, although the Australian took his penalty in good grace. Fortunately for Robertson, Williams missed the free ball and he returned to the table to clean up the fifth frame.
'He must have been put off' – Protestor disrupts Robertson at Hong Kong Masters
There was drama during Neil Robertson’s showdown with Mark Williams at the Hong Kong Masters as a noisy protestor was ejected from the crowd.
Robertson was lining up a shot during his quarter-final with the Welshman when a disturbance caused him to jolt up and stare towards the ruckus.
“Bit of noise… a lot of noise, actually. Seems to be some sort of protest,” said David Hendon on Eurosport commentary.
The camera panned to a spectator shouting and grabbing onto a safety rail as security tried to remove him.
“I don’t know what’s happening. He’s not happy that guy, he’s been ejected,” continued Hendon.
Remarkably, the ruthless referee imposed a foul on Robertson with replays showing the Australian star had feathered the cue ball amid the commotion.
“What’s happened here?” asked Hendon.
“He’s feathered the white while all that was going on, but he must have been put off by all that shouting. Very strange.”
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Watch as nightmare 'jaw of pocket' shot irritates Williams and crowd laugh
Williams returned to the table but missed a brown, acting as a red under the free ball rule, into the middle pocket.
“Had he knocked that in and made 155 [break], that gentleman would have missed it!” joked Neil Foulds, also on Eurosport commentary.
Although a 147 is widely regarded as the maximum break in snooker, a ’16-red’ max of 155 is technically possible. However, it can only happen when the break begins with a free ball – the ‘16th red’.
Jamie Cope and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh both claim to have achieved the feat in practice. It has never been done in a professional setting.
Robertson returned to the table to make a brilliant knock of 140, the highest break of the tournament so far, before completing a 5-3 win at the Coliseum.
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