Shaun Murphy’s World Championship final against Wu Yize got off to a rowdy start with a protester ejected from the Crucible and referee Rob Spencer admonishing the audience for keeping their phones on during play.
A female spectator was swiftly ejected by security officials after starting to shout out midway through the third frame of the match, and appeared to be prevented from entering the arena by the quick-thinking Spencer.
It followed a similar disruption late in Saturday night’s semi-final between Wu and Mark Allen, in which an audience member shouted out “never forget the Epstein files” and was also escorted from the arena.
In a separate incident, Murphy threw down his rest in disgust after missing a green in the second frame, having seemingly been distracted by a phone ringing.
The incident prompted Spencer to address the audience at the end of the frame, warning: “Make sure your phones are on silent, or switched off. Don’t be the person that has to be thrown out.”
Wu chiselled out an early 3-0 lead against the out-of-sorts Murphy, but the 2005 champion belatedly recovered his poise and the Chinese player had to hit back in order to finish a poor quality session all square at 4-4.
Wu took the opening frames despite never looking entirely comfortable and it was little surprise when Murphy stirred, a break of 85 sending him into the interval in a much happier mood then breaks of 90 and 77 pulling him level.
Wu was suddenly looking fragile, missing easy shots and reluctant to go for his trademark long pots, and the experienced Murphy sensed weakness, powering in the first century of the final to extend Wu’s agony.
The Chinese player rallied in afternoon’s final frame, firing nine reds and eight blacks before jawing a black to the middle pocket and riding his luck as Murphy’s protracted search for snookers came to nothing.
