Was it legal? Watch as CRAZY fluke comes to Lisowski’s rescue
Video credit: TNT Sports
Jack Lisowski benefited from “a huge slice of luck” in his Halo World Snooker Championship qualifier against Umut Dikme.The fortune garnered by the Northern Ireland Open champion was so great that it had TNT Sports commentators Phil Yates and Neal Foulds questioning the legality of the pot.
Up 24-0 in the 14th frame, Lisowski was hoping to coast into an 8-6 lead and was eyeing up a tight red to left corner.
The red was too tight, as it turned out, with the ball ricocheting off its neighbour, which rebounded off one cushion and headed directly towards right middle.
“Oh goodness. Oh my word. Is this going in?” asked Foulds as the red crept towards the pocket.
And once it dropped, Foulds continued: “Oh my word. I think that is a legal shot, but only just. Dikme was definitely at the table hoping to play a shot. It stayed on the lip for too long really, didn’t it?”
Craigie docked frame after late interval return before being eliminated from qualifying
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Yates replied: “It was just about within the bounds, wasn’t it? What a fluke that was, what a fluke. Now bear in mind, he had a guaranteed red to left middle. It was clearly a risk to take on the red he did.
“He made a real pig’s ear of it. But then the fluke saved his bacon.”
There is nothing in the rules of snooker concerning a set period of time to wait for a ball to drop.
Instead, it appears to be up to the judgment of the referee when a player’s turn has come to an end. Specifically, the referee must decide when a player’s ‘stroke’ has elapsed.
Rule 6 of Section 2 of the ‘Rules of the Game of Snooker’ states:
(c) A stroke is not completed until:
- all balls have come to rest;
- the striker has stood up, in readiness for a succeeding stroke, or leaving the table;
- any equipment being used by the striker has been removed from a hazardous position; and
- the referee has called any score relevant to the stroke.
“I think people assume there’s some kind of time limit for a ball to drop into a pocket, as if a referee’s got a stopwatch on every shot waiting to see if it stands on the lip,” explained Foulds.
“But it’s not really that. It’s more when the player who plays the shot leaves the table and the other one approaches. It’s an unwritten rule, really.
“But, as we say, I think we agree that while it was borderline, it was Lisowski’s pot to continue. But it was a huge slice of luck, as Phil said.”
Lisowski went on to make a break of 81 to move into an 8-6 lead, eventually finishing off his German opponent with a century for a 10-7 victory. He will play Fan Zhengyi in the fourth round of qualifying.
Maguire slams table in frustration
It was not all smiles and roses at World Championship qualifying on Monday, with Stephen Maguire showing his frustration in explosive fashion.
The Scot was trailing Liam Highfield 4-1 but was looking to mount a comeback via the sixth frame with a 39-5 advantage.
But a miss on a simple black drew ire from Maguire and the 45-year-old took out his anger on the table itself, slamming his fist into the mahogany.
Drama as Maguire SLAMS table after simple miss in World Championship qualifiers
Video credit: TNT Sports
Despite the outburst, Maguire went on to take the frame and pushed Highfield close, recovering to 7-5 down at one stage.
But Highfield enjoyed a flurry to the finish line for a 10-5 victory, which has earned him a fourth-round encounter with either Ben Woollaston or Oliver Lines.
Qualifying for the 2026 World Championship takes place between April 6-15, and is live on TNT Sports and HBO Max
