Jimmy White’s win over Hossein Vafaei at the Northern Ireland Open on Monday evening was overshadowed by a controversial moment in the sixth frame.
White was just one frame away from winning against the Iranian, but Vafaei held a 65-57 lead with just two reds left on the table.
He looked on course to level up the match with the cue ball in hand as he potted a long red, but referee Kevin Dabrowski called ‘foul’ to the bemusement of everyone.
Dabrowski explained that the cue ball was placed outside the D, resulting in the foul with White awarded four points and a free ball.
Hossein Vafaei was not happy with the decision
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Both players then walked to a table-side camera to look at a still of the cue ball, which failed to show the whole table.
White and Vafaei argued that the cue ball was on the yellow spot, but Dabrowski refused to back down.
Dabrowski added: “In my opinion, it wasn’t in the D. I’m 100 per cent certain.”
Commentator Neal Foulds was perplexed by the ruling and was unable to tell whether it was a correct call or not.
He said: “I’ve never seen that before.
“I can’t tell. I can’t tell. I’m not going to say either way.
“I don’t think it’s very obvious one way or another.”
Play eventually resumed with White using his free ball to pot the brown before running away with the frame to secure a controversial victory.
Speaking after his win, White admitted that he struggled to get his game going.
“It was very tough,” he said.
“I’m desperate to try and get a win. My safety was alright but there were a lot of mistakes, a lot of misses. It was a bizarre game.
“Never seen that before” 😳
The referee ‘100% sure’ on controversial Vafaei foul because the white ball was out of the D 🧐 pic.twitter.com/ImBmVsut3C
— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 21, 2024
“I’ve been playing some really good stuff, but when you’ve not got any confidence and like the first game I should have won to settle, listen, it’s a great win for me.
“It was bits and pieces, I never really got settled, but I won the match.”
The 62-year-old also paid credit to Dabrowski for not backing down from the controversial ruling that ultimately helped White progress.
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The referee stuck to his original decision
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“He was adamant the referee,” White added.
“He had a bit of a nightmare today with the match, didn’t he?
“Then you’ve got a few people in the crowd who got a bit excited, but he did well.”