Northern Ireland Open: ‘Everyone knows he hit it’ – Referee calls wrong foul against Sam Craigie

In the fourth frame, Craigie rolled up to a yellow to play a safety shot but Sulkowska called a foul even though replays clearly showed the ball moved.

Craigie went on to lose the match 4-2 to Selby in a scrappy affair.

“I saw contact made between the two balls, I could see he hit it,” Eurosport commentator Neal Foulds reacted straight away.

Once seeing the replays he added: “Listen he’s hit it, end of story. I’m afraid that’s not quite good enough. Everyone knows he hit it except one person.

“Surely you could send it to the marker and have it cleared up in a flash because obviously he hit it.”

After the match, Selby explained his side of the story as he was initially unsure what to do, before he made Craigie play again.

“Sam said he hit it so I said to the referee can you play it back but as far as said ‘as far as I’m concerned he didn’t hit it’,” Selby told Eurosport.

When seeing the replay Selby added: “That 100 per cent moves. It shows the sportsmanship in our sport.

“Sam is not going to say he’s touched it if it’s not and we’ve seen there, clear as day that it’s moved.”

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