Not everyone was on board with Welsh snooker star Mark Williams having ‘a bit of fun.’
In the fifth frame of his 2024 World Grand Prix clash against Iran’s Hossein Vafaei, Williams saw an opportunity to play a cheeky joke on referee Olivier Marteel.
ITV SnookerWilliams saw the chance to pull a prank on the referee and he took it[/caption]But it turned out Marteel was not in the mood for a laugh.
As Marteel replaced the balls on the baize, Williams thought he’d pull a little prank on the official as he nabbed the cue ball and hid it in his pocket.
Williams’ act drew plenty of laughter from the crowd inside the Morningside Arena.
The laughs grew in volume once Marteel turned around and scanned the table for the cue ball only to see a sheepish smile on Williams’ face, although he quickly returned it to the official.
Instead of sharing the same reaction with the crowd, Marteel issued Williams with a ruthless reminder of the snooker rules.
“You know that’s a penalty seven,” Marteel said.
Williams replied: “Oh, is it?”
Marteel added: “It’s a penalty seven points to Hossein. Because you touched the ball during a consultation period. It’s in the rules.”
Upon learning of his infraction, Williams turned around to the crowd in a sense of disbelief.
Luckily for the Welshman, the mishap had little bearing on the final result as he cruised to a 4-1 win over his rival.
ITV SnookerMarteel spoiled William’s prank by reminding him of the rules, which he had broken[/caption]But Williams wasn’t exactly in a celebratory mood during his post-match press conference as he took aim at the rules.
“World Snooker say, ‘Have a bit of fun, try and show your character’, and stuff like that,” Williams said.
“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!”
Williams hiding the cue ball wasn’t the only controversy of the contest.
ITV SnookerWilliams ultimately had the last laugh despite copping a seven-point penalty[/caption]After Williams wrapped up the victory, Vafaei walked off without shaking hands with the Welshman.
According to Williams, it was a gesture he made upon winning that left the Iranian frustrated.
“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,” Williams remarked.
“I slapped my leg at the end because I shouldn’t have gone for the pink. I should have played it 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!”
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