Snooker commentators have seen almost every shot imaginable with the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins dazzling the crowd.
But the Scot’s stroke of misfortune was so unfathomable for Neal Foulds, the man behind the microphone, that he was left speechless.
The Scottish Open had already made the headlines this week after a number of high-profile dropouts including O’Sullivan and world No 1 Judd Trump.
But it was Higgins’ shot that got people talking after his incredible miss against the odds during his 4-3 defeat to Barry Hawkins in Edinburgh.
The 49-year-old had fought back from 3-2 down to draw level in the best-of-seven encounter and set up a final-frame decider in a thrilling match.
But his hopes of winning went up in smoke after trying to navigate his way out of a snooker – only to gift his opponent the chance to snatch victory away from him.
The Scot had aimed to sneak the cueball behind a sea of reds near the bottom-left pocket.
Yet somehow, the ball narrowly passed the cluster of balls, hit the cushion and then remarkably failed to make contact with any other red, resulting in a foul.
And Foulds, who was working the game for Eurosport, was left in disbelief by the events that occurred in front of his eyes.
“I can’t believe what I’ve seen,” Foulds said. “He’s gone round the back of all of those reds. How on earth do you miss all those reds there?
“This is unbelievable. You think he’s going to hit a red for sure – I can’t believe he’s missed them all. That is unreal.”
Not only was he penalised four points, it proved to be his final shot in the match as Hawkins managed to clear the table with a break of 87.
The 45-year-old went on to seal his place in the last 16, sending the home favourite Higgins crashing out, and he expressed his sympathy for Higgins after such a bizarre miss.
Commenting on the decisive foul, Hawkins told Eurosport: “That’s just so unlucky, isn’t it? But yeah it’s a good chance. The balls were there but you’ve still got to take them.
“How close is he? You couldn’t do that again if you tried.”
While Higgins is left to lick his wounds, Hawkins will face Wu Yize in the next round as he continues his fine form, following his impressive run to the UK Championship final last week before he lost to Trump in York.
