- Frame came down to black ball and Ryan Day went for a double off cushion
- Black missed but he saw white roll in, meaning he lost frame to Luca Brecel
Ryan Day’s face was contorted in a mixture of disbelief and disgust after losing a crucial World Championship frame in agonising fashion.
In his match against 2023 champion, Luca Brecel, the 16th frame came down to the black ball.
Day was on 60 points and his Belgian opponent on 58, with just the black ball left to pot on the table.
The Welshman stepped up and attempted a double off the cushion, which missed, but then he looked on in dismay as the white crept towards the corner pocket.
‘Where’s the cue ball going!?’, exclaimed the commentator and sure enough it dropped.
Even though the foul points would have meant Day was still able to win the frame, the rule is that any foul on the black ends the frame.
The cue ball nestled in the corner pocket after Ryan Day’s effort on the final black
Day winced at the error and went on to lose the match against Luca Brecel
Brecel, the 2023 champion, has moved on to the quarter-finals at the Crucible
It would prove to be a costly mistake, with Brecel going on to win the match 10-7 to reach the last 16 of the tournament in Sheffield.
Day’s defeat will be even more painful given that he had a 5-1 lead at the start of the match. Afterwards he was downbeat and reflected: ‘Even with a 5-1 lead I was looking over my shoulder and not looking forward. I’m just not over-confident and I’m definitely not the player I once was.
‘I turn up and play and try. I’ve been doing it a long time so it’s obviously a lot closer to the end than the beginning.
‘I would’ve beaten myself up the way I played if that had been a couple of years ago, but I’ve come to terms with it.
‘I still like competing, I just haven’t got the game that I had. As long as I’m on the tour I will still play and make a living out of it.
‘I need to try to do something different [in matches] but I can’t see my game really improving much.’
