World Snooker have leapt to the defence of referee Marcel Eckardt following the longest frame in Crucible history, which unfolded on Friday. The second session of Mark Allen and Wu Yize’s semi-final was overshadowed by a 14th frame that dragged on for an extraordinary 100 minutes and 21 seconds.
The match descended into farce after eight red balls became clustered around the black over a corner pocket. German official Eckardt faced mounting calls to restart the frame, but permitted play to continue as the Sheffield crowd grew increasingly restless.
Not a single ball was potted for 55 minutes, with the frame finally concluding when Allen fouled and inadvertently nudged the black in. The session, which finished level at 7-7, had to be curtailed as a result of the disorder, and the resumption of John Higgins and Shaun Murphy’s semi-final was pushed back as a result.
Six-time world champion Steve Davis demanded action from snooker’s governing body, telling the BBC: “In a nutshell that frame is an embarrassment to snooker, and the referees’ and the players’ association need to try to work out a way so that never happens again.”
Yet World Snooker responded to the criticism by insisting it believed ‘the rule was applied correctly’ by Eckardt. Stephen Hendry was unconvinced, however, with the seven-time Crucible champion stating: “The referee’s got to get involved here, in my opinion.
“This is the dark side of snooker. It’s been a horrendous frame but it’s helped Wu Yize so much. He didn’t look like winning another frame, but the ludicrous nature of this has just helped to lighten the load on him and free him up, forget what was happening to him in this session.”
The 2024 champion, Kyren Wilson, also weighed in, commenting: “I think Marcel Eckardt should’ve called that a lot earlier. That game was going nowhere, quite painful, but the fight and determination from Mark Allen is still incredible.” John Parrott shared the same view and called on Eckardt to intervene.
“I’ve never seen a frame like it in all my years,” said Parrott, who claimed the title back in 1991. “I’ve never seen it this bad. Mark Allen says he doesn’t want a re-rack, but the referee is in charge and the referee should be in charge. I can understand from Mark’s point of view, but the referee has the authority to do something about this.”
Allen and Yize’s match is finely poised at 7-7 and will be resumed today along with the other semi-final between John Higgins and Shaun Murphy.