Jimmy White calls out crowd as World Snooker Championship dream denied | Tennis | Sport

Jimmy White was spotted angrily confronting a snooker spectator after missing a crucial shot during his heartbreaking defeat to Gao Yang. The veteran White, a six-time finalist who has never clinched the sport’s most coveted title, continues to compete well into his 60s, despite not qualifying for a World Championship since 2006.

He will once again be absent from the Crucible this year. Having been drawn against world No.99 Gao Yang in the opening round of qualifying, he agonisingly fell short 10-9 despite taking the first session 5-4. The 63-year-old was left lamenting the finest of margins, perhaps none more so than in the fifth frame when he was handed what appeared to be an excellent opportunity to move 4-1 ahead.

However, he failed to pot a red into the left middle pocket, gifting the Chinese qualifier a chance to return to the table and make him pay.

Following the pivotal miss, White was caught on TNT Sports cameras pointing at a member of the crowd and reacting with visible frustration towards something that occurred off-screen.

Co-commentator Phil Yates believed he had been put off by a spectator moving behind the pocket, a distraction that is frequently cited as a nuisance when it occurs during critical moments.

Lead commentator Joe Johnson said: “What a miss! How important is it going to be?”

Yates responded: “I saw him signalling to someone in the crowd that maybe they’ve moved behind the pocket.”

Similar scenes took place in the final, and deciding frame, with the pair locked at 9-9.

White stretched to try and pot the brown, having worked hard to get himself back in a position to potentially win the frame and book his place in the second round of qualifying.

But it rattled the jaw and gifted Gao a golden opportunity to clean up and seal victory.

At that moment, White dropped his cue on the floor in frustration, before he picked it back up and sat in his chair, watching his opponent claim victory.