‘I was furious’ – Dominic Dale frustrated by referee’s decision during Shoot Out victory over Asjad Iqbal

Dominic Dale was left “furious” when he was deemed to have played a shot too late during his Shoot Out victory over Asjad Iqbal.

At the halfway stage in the frame, Dale had built a 21-point lead when he took aim for the blue into the middle pocket, even affording a smile to the boisterous crowd. However, his expression changed when the referee Mark King told him he had taken too long to play the shot after a lengthy review of the replay.

Dale argued his case but the decision was made – he had committed a foul and five points were awarded to Asjad.

To his credit, however, Dale didn’t allow the setback to affect him as he rallied back to claim his place in the evening session, running out a 63-30 winner.

Speaking afterwards, Dale insisted the referee had made a mistake.

“I thought I struck the cueball on the half-beat before the actual … the legs didn’t go red,” he said.

“Something’s wrong. Don’t the legs go red?

Upon reviewing the incident again on replay, Dale said: “The legs haven’t gone red, which denotes a foul, does it not?”

However, after another look, he said: “Well, on the graphic, it’s a foul. But I didn’t hear the beeps go. On the graphic it’s a foul.”

The referee had the support of Reanne Evans, who said: “Yeah, to be fair, I thought Mark [King] was spot on. He was on the ball. All his reffing has been spot on.

“To concentrate in this atmosphere, it’s hard isn’t it? As you say, you couldn’t hear it. I thought it was a great call by the ref.”

Dale continued: “Yeah, on the graphic, a definite foul. I didn’t hear the beep before I actually struck the cue ball.”

Jimmy White also backed the referee’s decision but gave credit to Dale for how he responded.

“He checked it three times before he made the decision,” said White. “But you done really well after that.”

To which Dale responded: “I was furious! Because I didn’t hear the beep as I struck the cueball I was convinced it wasn’t a foul.”

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Ali Carter made a 117 break during his victory over Cao Yupeng, the highest clearance of the tournament so far.

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