When the lights came on mid-framepublished at 14:53 BST
14:53 BST
Murphy 4-0 Xiao
Michael Emons
BBC Sport at the Crucible
Media caption,
Shaun Murphy not happy with the light turning on
There was a bizarre incident during Shaun Murphy’s opening game against Fan Zhengyi, in frame 17 when it was 8-8.
Murphy was taking a shot and the light from the other table, which had been turned off as the match between Judd Trump and Gary Wilson had finished, was switched on.
Murphy made the pot on the blue, but after a brief delay, then potted his next effort while using the rest but instantly ran out of position and had to play safe, although he still won the frame. He also won the match 10-9 thanks to a superb break of 50 in the final frame when trailing 53-17.
Despite the victory, Murphy was unhappy with the incident and said afterwards: “That was a new one, I’ve never had that before. We don’t ask for much as snooker players, but leave the lights off.
“As soon as I got to pot the blue, I saw the reflection and it affected the way I hit the ball, it affected the shot.
“I came off the table straight after and saw the tournament director and said ‘whether I win or lose, you’ve got to look at it’. I won that frame to go 9-8, but that should not happen – it was poor.”
A World Snooker Tour spokesman said: “This unfortunate incident was caused by a
technical issue and we are taking steps to prevent it from happening
again.”