A pool player has been branded the 'unluckiest of all-time' after a bizarre shot ended in frustration.
On Saturday, two-time World Pool Masters winner, Spain's David Alcaide, came up against United States star Shane Wolford in London.
Favourite to win the match for his Europe side, Alcaide was looking to clean up the final few balls on the table towards the end of the match.
There were three balls left on the table at the time of the shot, and there should have been two after it - but three remained.
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In a bizarre set of circumstances, Alcaide's effort to pot the brown ball came in vain as the ball did all but end up in one of the corner pockets.
Alcaide seemed to have done everything right. He had lined up the effort, considered where the white would end up after and the power was all correct. That was until the ball had other ideas.
Upon executing the shot, the ball entered the pocket - only to bounce right back out again.
The players, crowd and commentators were left in awe at the result of the shot, with Alcaide looking bemused and almost hopeless after his 'on in 10 million' effort.
Replays showed that the ball entered the pocket, and seemed to bounce off another ball that was had already been potted, onto another and back out.
Sky Sports' commentator attempted to explain the events to viewers, saying: "It came straight out of the pocket,” he said. “It actually seems to start going below ground and then pops its head back up again.
“That is absolutely incredible. You might see that once in ten million shots, if even that.”
Despite the freak shot, Alcaide helped Team Europe to beat Team USA 11-3 to keep the Mosconi Cup title and to take an overall series lead of 16-13.
Alcaide won the 2017 World Pool Masters by beating Scot Jayson Shaw 8-7 in the final, and lifted the trophy again in 2019 defeating Greece's Alexander Kazakis 9-8.
While 44-year-old Alcaide is one of the best players in the sport, it's unlikely he has ever seen anything like the events that unfolded here.
Topics: Snooker
Lewis Browning