World Snooker Championship: ‘Crazy stuff’ – Three flukes in three minutes as Jack Lisowski loses wild frame

Jack Lisowski and Noppon Saengkham left the crowd at the Crucible stunned with a truly wild passage of play during their first-round match at the World Championship on Wednesday morning.

The “crazy stuff” started as Saengkham missed an attempted cut on the green into the middle pocket, only to see the cue ball roll in cheekily behind the blue to leave his opponent snookered.

“Oh, wow!” exclaimed Philip Studd, on commentary for Eurosport at the time. “Well, when you are in the predicament that Saengkham is at the moment, 7-3 down, you need a bit of luck, and he certainly had some there.

But before anyone had a moment to feel sorry for Lisowski, he benefited from a hefty dose of good fortune himself with his very next shot.

The 31-year-old took on a double on the green to play safe, but he accidentally caught the ball full-on and sent it careering into the middle pocket for a second successive fluke as the crowd cheered.

“Right back at you!” chuckled Studd as Dominic Dale added in disbelief: “What is going on here? Amazing. This game never ceases to amaze you, does it?”

Finally, having negotiated the brown after a prolonged safety exchange, Lisowski drained the blue with another spectacular fluke to leave everyone in the Crucible stunned.

Taking on a long pot to the far corner pocket, Lisowski missed it into the jaws but then saw the blue roll along the top of the table and into the other corner pocket.

“No, too thick, too thick… oh, you are kidding!” responded Studd.

“Crazy stuff going on in this frame on the colours. A fluked snooker, and now two flukes from Lisowski. This could be a decisive steal in this match.”

In fact, it wasn’t. Saengkham managed to sink the black to prompt a re-spotted black to decide the frame, and he came out on top to reduce the deficit.

Remarkably, Lisowski’s lucky double at the end of the frame was not his first of the match as he had a very notable fluke in the opening session of the match the day before which had his opponent “out of his chair”.

– – –