Snooker star forfeits match and walks out after slapping red ball during Saudi Arabia Masters

Snooker star Matthew Selt forfeited his fourth round match at the Saudi Arabian Masters after slapping a red ball down the table mid-frame.

The world number 36 was competing against Pang Junxu in the final preliminary round when the incident occurred.

Selt arrived at the table 10-0 down in the eighth frame, with Pang 4-3 up in the best-of-nine frames clash.

He potted a red but found himself in a tricky position to pot the subsequent black, having to arch his cue over a pack of reds.

Selt missed the black and, showing his frustration, swiped another red down the table with his hand before remonstrating with the referee.

As you might expect, such an act is prohibited in snooker and results in a player automatically forfeiting the frame.

And after a brief discussion with the referee, Selt walked out of the arena, having lost the match 5-3.

You can see the incident below.

It had already been a challenging week for the 39-year-old, who won the 2018 Indian Open for his first and so far only ranking title, as his cue broke during the flight to Saudi Arabia.

Upon arriving into the country, Selt learned that his cue had somehow snapped in two in its case.

He originally planned to play with his old cue, which is now used by fellow pro Anthony Hamilton, for the competition, but was able to fix his current cue enough for him to be able to use it.

He told Metro: "I had some cues sent from back home and one from Thailand, but I found a local carpenter here who has filed some of the wood away and used some extremely strong adhesive to put it back together.

"I played with it for a few hours earlier. It looks terrible, but the balls are going in the direction they were going in before it broke. Hopefully that will keep happening and it won't break during the game.

"I've found it entertaining, in a way. Listen, I'll be seriously p***ed off if it breaks during my game, but I think it's playable. I think I'll be alright."

Elsewhere on day five in Saudi Arabia, world number one Judd Trump - who may need to win the tournament to ensure he remains the number one - came back from 4-0 down to beat Wu Yize 5-4 in a stunning clash.

There was disappointment for world number five Mark Selby, though, as he lost 5-3 to qualifier Neil Robertson.

Trump, Gary Wilson and Shaun Murphy were the only seeds in the bottom half of the draw to win their respective matches, with Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins, Ali Carter and World Championship finalist Jak Jones all tasting defeat.

The winner of the entire event will collect £500,000 in prize money - making the tournament the second biggest in terms of the overall prize pot, behind only the World Championship.