Mark Selby asks ref 'why are you laughing?!' in reference to Jimmy White controversy at Northern Ireland Open
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Published 21/10/2022 at 16:20 GMT
There was a moment of fun before Mark Selby's quarter-final against Neil Robertson at the Northern Ireland Open on Friday evening as the Jester from Leicester seized his opportunity to tease the match referee, Ben Williams, for his part in a controversy earlier in the tournament involving snooker legend Jimmy White. Selby asked the official what he was laughing at in reference to the incident.
'Why are you laughing?!' - Watch as Selby teases referee after White controversy
Mark Selby lived up to his nickname of The Jester as he teased match referee Ben Williams by asking what he was laughing about in Belfast.
The comment was, of course, in reference to the fact that Williams had been caught up in a controversy earlier in the tournament after angering snooker legend Jimmy White for laughing during a match at the Northern Ireland Open.
Selby was seeking to have some fun at the referee's expense and lighten the tension before his hotly-anticipated quarter-final with fellow former world champion Neil Robertson at the Waterfront Hall.
Robertson had already engaged in some friendly conversation with Williams and, as both laughed away before the start of the contest, Selby pounced on his moment to have some fun.
"Why are you laughing like that?!" Selby asked with a smile as the crowd chortled in the background.
It was a moment of jest that everyone seemed to enjoy before Robertson broke off for the opening frame.
In the fourth frame of White’s second-round match against Luca Brecel, which he lost 4-0, Williams wrongly called which ball The Whirlwind was going for.
Williams laughed at the situation, which White was not at all happy about, so he gesticulated at the official - seemingly waving a finger at the referee - and was given a warning for his actions.
The pair shook hands after the match but White told Williams to “look at the video” footage.
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‘Look at the video!’ – White not happy with warning from referee post-match
“I can see why Jimmy didn't see the funny side there,” Ronnie O’Sullivan explained in the Eurosport studio. “He’s having a hard time out there, he’s not playing well.
“We saw Jimmy has walked around, so it might look like he's looking at the blue. The referee has jumped the gun and there's no reason to call a colour. Whatever ball he’s going to hit, it’s the one he’s intending to hit.
“Then the referee starts laughing and Jimmy has done nothing with his hand other than, ‘What’s going on, I don’t need this’. Then he’s warned him, it’s just uncalled for really.”
White missed his next shot and went on to lose the frame as his run in Belfast came to an end in the last 64. He later shared his side of the story.
“He’s given me a warning because he thinks I did a hand gesture, which I didn’t,” White explained in the Eurosport studio.
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'What's funny about that?' - White in spat with referee, warned over finger incident
“What I was frustrated about is, I’m 3-0 down, this guy [Brecel] is potting balls, I’m trying my best. We’re playing a serious match, this is not an exhibition match. This is not a fun situation. I’m one of the lucky ones. It could be one of the guys out there who is playing for their mortgage.
“All of a sudden I’ve come on the brown in the middle and he’s said ‘blue’. I looked at him and said ‘no, brown’ and he starts laughing. All he’s got to do is turn around and say, ‘Ok, sorry brown’ and we get on with the game.
“But then he thinks I’ve given a gesture which he now realises I didn’t. I’ve got no problem with him. But this is a snooker match, I’m trying as hard as I can to win. I’m one of the lucky ones so financially it doesn’t make a difference to me.”
Asked if he had any regrets, White said: “No regrets, because it’s a serious situation.”
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The Home Nations series is back with the Northern Ireland Open and it is live and exclusive on discovery+. You can also watch Seventh Heaven, a two-part show about Ronnie O’Sullivan’s historic World Championship win last season, on demand now.
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