Kyren Wilson sparked some controversy at the International Championship as he threw his cue on the table after losing a frame, but later apologised for his actions, according to his manager.
The Warrior arrived in Nanjing in fine form after winning the Northern Ireland Open last month but was in trouble in his opening contest with Liam Highfield.
In a race to six frames, Highfield took a 5-3 lead and after the completion of that eighth frame Wilson showed his frustration.
Highfield made a break of 79 to win the frame and as Wilson got up to leave the playing area between frames he chucked his cue across the table towards referee Dai Liang.
The referee looked very surprised, but didn’t do anything at the time as Wilson left the playing area.
The former world champion returned to win the final three frames of the match with breaks of 51, 127 and 75 and claim a 6-5 victory.
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He addressed the situation after, telling WST: ‘He played very strongly today. I think every frame had a high break. I find Liam very difficult to play against. I think our styles clash and I play a lot faster. Liam is a little bit more methodical. I got a bit angry at 5-3 and I finished strongly.
‘It took eight frames to keep calm, in the ninth I got a bit angry and lost my composure, but it fired me up. Before that I missed one or two balls but afterwards I played well.’
Wilson’s management, run by his brother Taylor, gave his take on the situation and said the world number nine did apologise after the incident.
A post from TWS Management read: ‘Out of frustration with how the game is going. Doesn’t make it acceptable or right, that’s why he apologised to the referee after.
‘Some players punch tables. Some players throw rests and cues. Some players smash balls around the table.
‘Elite sport frustration. Doesn’t make any of them right. It’s what happens within the moment. Apologise and move on.’
Wilson’s narrow victory saw him progress to the last 32 in Nanjing where he takes on Ryan Day on Monday.
There have already been some surprise early exits from the International Championship, with the field opening up a bit as a result.
Judd Trump was downed 6-5 by Fan Zhengyi on Sunday and Mark Selby beaten 6-2 by Hossein Vafaei on Monday morning.
A number of top 16 players didn’t make the trip to Nanjing, with Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins both pulling out due to medical reasons, while Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen withdrew before the event started.