A man was thrown out of the Crucible after interrupting a World Snooker Championship semi-final with an outburst about the Epstein Files.
The 33rd and deciding frame of the World Snooker Championship semi-final between Mark Allen and Wu Yize was interrupted by an unexpected and puzzling shout from the crowd.
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Wu Yize was left stunned as a fan was thrown out for shouting about Epstein files during his semi-final Credit: BBC
The man shouted “never forget the Epstein Files” twice before being ejected from the arena in Sheffield.
Fellow fans inside the crucible were not happy with the shout as many of them also called for the man to leave.
Wu, who was about to take his turn at the table, looked stunned at the outburst, staring up at the crowd as the atmosphere became tense.
The referee, Marcel Eckhart, quickly ushered security over to have the person removed.
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If this was a planned move from the brazen spectator, it’s strange that he waited until the final frame to unleash his tirade.
The session had begun with the players level at 11-11, so the man had waited all the way until the 33rd frame to make his mark.
The game was never guaranteed to make it that far – what was his plan?
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Mark Allen was left devastated with his final frame loss Credit: BBC
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WE have reached the final of this year’s World Snooker Championship.
English star Shaun Muphy goes up against Chinese ace Wu Yize with a huge prize pot on the line.
This means that defending champ Zhao Xintong failed to break the 49-year Crucible curse following his quarter-final exit.
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Wu went on to defeat Allen 17-16 in a true Crucible classic and will now face Shaun Murphy in the final.
When asked about the interruption, the 22-year-old admitted he was affected by it.
Wu said: “At the beginning of the last frame I was a little bit nervous and then someone screamed from the stands.
“I didn’t understand what he was screaming, but it sort of affected me. Then Mark was having a very good lead but I’m very happy I was able to turn it around.”
Minutes after the interruption, Allen suffered a devastating final-frame defeat to Wu. The frame prior, Allen could have won, but he missed what appeared to be a fairly routine black.
Was the Northern Irishman distracted or thrown off by the fan’s calls? Who knows.
In fairness, Allen did not use that moment as a crutch. Instead, the world number 14 said he succumbed to the massive pressure of the moment.
He said: “You don’t deserve to be in a world final if you’re missing balls like that.
“That was pure pressure. Normally I’m pretty good under pressure but I just didn’t handle it well.
“Even though I’m devastated to lose that match, I think the right person is in the final.”
For the precious few of you who may not be aware: The Epstein files are a series of files, documents and media – around 3.5 million pages worth – that detail the sex-trafficking activities of financier Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell containing many prominent names.
