A mind-blowing miss at the UK Championship prompted snooker great Steve Davis to make a bold demand regarding the table.
Davis, 67, was on commentary for the BBC at the tournament and was presiding over Stuart Bingham’s round two clash against Chinese star Zhang Anda.
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Bingham looked to be on course for an upset over the world No. 11 as he held a 5-1 lead.
But a shot from Bingham in the eighth frame summed up how the remainder of the contest would unfold and sparked Davis’ request.
Bingham lightly hit a shot towards the yellow.
Remarkably, the ball somehow drifted to the left and rolled past the yellow without even touching it due to the lack of power used by Bingham.
It was a baffling miss from Bingham, who was visibly puzzled at the shot.
Davis, a six-time world champion, was equally baffled but felt it was nothing to do with Bingham.
“This table needs to be releveled if that’s happening,” Davis said.
As a result of the miss, Bingham coughed up four penalty points to his rival.
By then, the momentum was firmly with Zhang as he recovered from the 5-1 deficit to win 6-5.
The controversial miss wasn’t the only flashpoint of Bingham’s encounter against Zhang.
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In the fifth frame, Bingham missed the chance to record a maximum 147 break.
After his attempt to pot the black clipped the pocket, Bingham raised his cue at an audience member and fired a steely glare in their direction.
Speaking after his loss, Bingham clarified who had evidently put him off.
“I was a photographer,” Bingham said.
“He ran in just before I was taking that shot. Photographers just seem to be my kryptonite.”
Zhang’s victory over Bingham sealed him a match against world No. 1 Judd Trump in the quarter finals of the UK Championship.
