THE SECOND semi-final of the Shanghai Masters was delayed by up to seven minutes after the arena scoreboard broke down.
The first prestigious tournament of the new snooker season descended into farcical scenes when Kyren Wilson and Zhao Xintong were forced to walk off as officials tried to fix the problem with the monitors.
GETTYKyren Wilson locked horns with world champion Zhao Xintong in the second Shanghai Masters semi-final[/caption]
GETTYTheir clash was briefly suspended and both players left the arena[/caption]
DISCOVERYPlay was suspended fans in attendance at home couldn’t see the live scoreboard[/caption]
It occurred in frame ten in the evening session in front of a packed house at the Luwan Gymnasium.
Xintong, the reigning world champion, had just missed the black off its spot with the score 23-0 in his favour – he was also 5-4 up in the contest – and this forced the home fans to gasp in surprise.
But as he returned to his chair, Wilson complained to the referee about the fact no scores were coming up on the nearby screens.
The 2024 world champion, 33, called out: “Zhao, can we wait? Can we wait, yeah?”
When the female referee came over for a chat, the Warrior said: “It’s no good.
“I would rather wait for the scoring (to return). It’s not good for the fans because the fans can’t see the score.” Shall we say how long it takes?”
The Chinese ref said that because the match was being broadcast on live TV it was not a given that the players could simply wait around.
She then spoke to the tournament director and it was decided the two cueists would be allowed to go backstage for a quick break.
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List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
1969 – John Spencer
1970 – Ray Reardon
1971 – John Spencer
1972 – Alex Higgins
1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
1977 – John Spencer (2)
1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
1979 – Terry Griffiths
1980 – Cliff Thorburn
1981 – Steve Davis
1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
1983 – Steve Davis (2)
1984 – Steve Davis (3)
1985 – Dennis Taylor
1986 – Joe Johnson
1987 – Steve Davis (4)
1988 – Steve Davis (5)
1989 – Steve Davis (6)
1990 – Stephen Hendry
1991 – John Parrott
1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
1997 – Ken Doherty
1998 – John Higgins
1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
2000 – Mark Williams
2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2002 – Peter Ebdon
2003 – Mark Williams (2)
2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
2005 – Shaun Murphy
2006 – Graeme Dott
2007 – John Higgins (2)
2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
2009 – John Higgins (3)
2010 – Neil Robertson
2011 – John Higgins (4)
2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
2014 – Mark Selby
2015 – Stuart Bingham
2016 – Mark Selby (2)
2017 – Mark Selby (3)
2018 – Mark Williams (3)
2019 – Judd Trump
2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
2021 – Mark Selby (4)
2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
2023 – Luca Brecel
2024 – Kyren Wilson
2025 – Zhao Xintong
Most World Titles (modern era)
7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
2 – Alex Higgins
In the end, there were six-and-a-half minutes between the missed shot played by Xintong and then Wilson’s attempt at a red, which he potted.
As the break began, David Hendon, the respected discovery+ snooker commentator, said: “It’s no good this, is it? Let’s be honest.
“This is a big, big match, the players just want to play it. Now they are going off.
“The thing is this, it’s not between frames, there has been a session that has been finished. So why isn’t the scoreboard working for the next session?
“I don’t think it is unreasonable to ask that. For now the players have gone off.
“Hopefully, the delay won’t be too long. We are looking forward to seeing how this session pans out.”
Alan McManus, the former Masters champion, who was working on co-comms duty, suggested that they could continue with the ref verbally relaying the scores.
Zhao, can we wait? Can we wait, yeah?”
Kyren Wilson to Zhao Xintong
The Scotsman, 54, said: “It’s far from ideal. You can have a contingency.
“I must confess, it’s easy sitting here. I would say that whichever player has a visit, you tell them ‘you are 16-0 behind’.
“And we call the break as you go. So it’s easier to compute. It’s not ideal.”
There was then the bizarre scene of 11 red balls being scattered around the table but with two empty chairs as the issue was being looked into.
During the delay, discovery+ TV producers played a montage of the top 10 shots of 2025 as they waited for the Chinese administrators to sort it out.
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