Snooker star penalised for 'never before seen foul' at Northern Ireland Open

Snooker star Hossein Vafaei unexpectedly found himself penalised for a never-before-seen foul at the Northern Ireland Open last year. The tournament returned to Belfast earlier this month, and the final is set to take place on Sunday.

There will be plenty of attention paid to the final at Waterfront Hall, but both players will need to be mindful of the rule that Vafaei was accused of breaking in his round of 64 match against Jimmy White last year. Vafaei eventually lost 4-2 but the match was arguably most notable for a decision during the final frame by referee Kevin Dabrowski. He announced that Vafaei had placed the white ball slightly beyond the D and gave a free ball, leading to confusion throughout the arena.

Vafaei protested the official's decision and insisted that he had placed the cue ball on the yellow spot. However, Dabrowski disagreed and stood firmly by his decision. Meanwhile, White asked if it would be possible to see a replay of his opponent's shot to rectify the peculiar situation.

The referee immediately stated that he was "absolutely certain", leading Vafaei, who believed he had just potted a red, to ask: "Can you check?" After explaining his decision to both players, a brief pause in the action followed before Dabrowski led Vafaei over to a TV camera to review the footage.

Despite seeing a freeze-frame of the incident, Vafaei maintained that the ball had been on the yellow spot. However, Dabrowski responded by sticking by his decision: "It's not Hossein. You can see on the video it's outside of the D. I'm 100 per cent sure."

The commentators' reaction summed up the unusual situation. Former snooker player Neal Foulds said on TNT Sports: "I've never seen that before."

Upon seeing the replay, Foulds added: "Well, we're seeing it. I can't tell. It's got to be over the line I suppose, rather than on the line. It looked like it might have been in. But I'm not going to say either way. I don't think it's very obvious, one way or another."

White went on to claim the frame and win the match, losing to Martin O'Donnell in the following round. The 2024 Northern Ireland Open was won by Kyren Wilson, who defeated Judd Trump 9-3 to claim the £100,000 prize.

This year, White lost 4-2 to Huang Jihao in the first round of qualifying. Vafaei once again fell at the round of 64 stage, losing by the same scoreline to Ben Woollaston.