Mark Williams docked points as practical joke gone wrong leaves ref unimpressed

18 January 2024 , 08:23

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An attempted practical joke backfired on Mark Williams (Image: Tai Chengzhe/VCG via Getty Images)

Mark Williams received a seven-point penalty as an attempted practical joke backfired in his World Grand Prix match against Hossein Vafaei.

The incident occurred during the fifth frame of the match, with Williams picking up the cue ball and hiding it in his pocket while referee Olivier Marteel was replacing the balls. Williams' antics got a laugh from the Morningside Arena crowd, which only got louder once Marteel turned around and realised the cue ball was missing.

However, as a smirking Williams gave the ball back to Marteel, the referee informed him: "You know that's a penalty seven. It's a penalty seven points to Hossein. You touched the ball during a consultation period, it's in the rules."

Williams was left in disbelief at the penalty and criticised the rules after the match, saying: "World Snooker say 'have a bit of fun, try and show your character' and stuff like that. 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!"

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The Welshman went on to win the match 4-1, but there was yet more drama at the end when Vafaei walked off without shaking hands with Williams. "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 said.

"I slapped my leg at the end because I shouldn't have gone for the pink. I should have played 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!"

Williams is now set to face Cao Yupeng in the quarter-finals and he is feeling confident about his chances of winning the World Grand Prix. Speaking ahead of the tournament, Williams told WST : "I have been playing well for a while now.

"I was thinking about my game over Christmas and I felt I had gone a bit slow and lethargic, second guessing myself. My instinct to play shots with freedom is as good as anyone's.

"In a way this event is more important than the Masters because there are ranking points, and that was the motivation for me to get up off the canvas after losing in the semi-finals last week. I have got three cracks left to make sure I am in the Players Championship, I want to be there to defend that title."

Matthew Cooper