The World Snooker Championship crowd was left exasperated thanks to a battle of tactics between Wu Yize and Mark Allen at the semi-finals. Sarcastic claps and calls for re-racks rang out from the audience as the pair played out an incredibly long frame, with Allen leading by 30.
The Englishman put up a score of 43 before the black was encased by eight reds at the right-bottom pocket. Yize and Allen exchanged kisses against the reds for over 35 minutes, with the crowd joining in with jeers of their own. Stephen Hendry and John Parrott couldn’t believe their eyes as they commented on the action, with the Scotsman stating: “The referee has got to call this, I’m afraid. I think he should’ve called it a while ago.”
At one point, a crowd member said: “Can we have a rerack?” to which the match official replied: “Thanks for the advice, but we can do it without you.”
According to Parrott, another frame of snooker is not allowed after 6:15pm, meaning those left to be played today would just be added onto the next session. The BBC stated: “With John Higgins and Shaun Murphy due to get back underway at 7pm, it appears extremely unlikely that the eight frames scheduled for this session will be played.
“If the players are called off early those frames will be added to their final session on Saturday evening.”
The referee motioned towards Allen after the continued tactical battle and warned that action may need to be taken. He said: ” I was always hoping the black was going to drop in, obviously. But that is not happening.”
Towards the end of the chaos, the referee instructed Yize and Allen that three more shots were allowed each before a re-rack is to take place. Allen was left unhappy with the instruction, claiming the action should continue.
He eventually potted the black, taking the foul and letting the snooker continue.