Mark Williams secured his spot in the quarter-finals of snooker's World Grand Prix with a drama-filled 4-1 victory over Hossein Vafaei last night, with a couple of controversial moments taking place during their clash in Leicester.
The Welshman was certainly deserving of the win, playing the better snooker throughout as his opponent failed to capitalise on a couple of big opportunities.
However, there was a growing sense of frustration from Vafaei throughout the evening. In fact, he would storm off at the end of the match without shaking his opponent's hand. As well as that, Williams was also subjected to a telling off from the referee at one point for what he felt was a harmless joke.
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Mark Williams punished by snooker referee for cue ball joke
Early in the fifth frame of the match, Mark Williams made two failed attempts to play out of a safety shot that had been set by his opponent.
After referee Olivier Marlteel took some time to reset the balls after that second attempt, Williams would jokingly pocket the cue ball while the official had his back turned. The crowd found the whole thing quite funny, although the Belgian referee was less amused.
He would dock the player seven points for his actions, with the player having technically broken the rules by touching the ball during a live consultation period.
Almanac alert. Mark Williams steals the cue ball and puts it in his pocket for a joke. But BelgianRef gives him a seven point penalty. So in two failed shots (foul 4, foul 6, he’s 0-17 down!) @davehendon @fouldsy147 @Nick_Metcalfe @philhaigh_ pic.twitter.com/IyEwmsjCjA
— Joe Gibney (@joegibney15) January 17, 2024
While this decision would mean that Williams found himself 17-0 down in the frame, he would ultimately bounce back to go on and win the match.
Speaking afterwards, the 48-year old admitted he was baffled by the punishment handed out to him on this occasion.
World Snooker say 'have a bit of fun, try and show your character' and stuff like that.
You do something like that, just to have a bit of fun, because it took him a while to get back, so I just picked it up and put it in my pocket, and I got fouled seven for it!
What do they want? They want you to express yourself and have a bit of fun. When you do it, you get penalty points, so I won't be doing that again!
The referee was not the only one that was seemingly annoyed by Mark Williams' actions during the match.
After the end of the final frame, Hossein Vafaei would storm off without shaking his opponent's hand.
Williams outplays Vafaei in R2!#worldgrandprix @SpreadexSport @markwil147 pic.twitter.com/Z43bZEOcQy
— WST (@WeAreWST) January 17, 2024
Williams explained that his opponent was annoyed by his actions after missing that final pink.
I just pulled him up about it and said 'what's your problem', and he said it was because I slapped my leg at the end, when I won. I slapped my leg at the end because I shouldn't have gone for the pink. I should have played safe.
I thought he would have come back to the table and carried on for snookers. That's why I was a bit fuming. He just stormed off, but if that's the reason... I don't care anyway!
Mark Williams will now face Cao Yupeng in the quarter-finals later this evening, where he will be hoping to continue his march towards what would be a first ever final appearance in this event.
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