The BBC has been slammed by angry snooker fans after they missed Kyren Wilson’s historic 147-break at the World Championship.
Wilson scored the 13th maximum break in Crucible history on Wednesday on his way to picking up a 10-5 victory against Ryan Day. The Englishman kept his nerve to pot 15 reds, 15 blacks and all the colours and take in the applause of the crowd.
But his moment of triumph was missed by viewers on BBC Two, who were instead whisked away to Politics Live at 11.15am. Snooker fans were instructed to use the red button to continue watching Wilson’s break, but even then some were frustrated.
The red button was showing a pre-scheduled film of Stephen Hendry and Shaun Murphy talking about using the rest while Jack Lisowski’s match against Noppon Saengkham was on a break. To watch Wilson’s break, intrepid viewers needed to go onto the website and switch to table two.
The BBC did spot the blunder and showed the frame in its entirety on BBC Two when the coverage resumed at 1pm and put it on their website. But by that point plenty of snooker fans had already been irritated, with many switching over to watch the match on Eurosport instead.
One angry fan tweeted: “@BBCSnooker If you're going to put the game on, put the whole game on, or don't bother. Just as it gets interesting it goes off.... Then you have to p*** around pressing red buttons and waiting around... Sort it please!!!” Another replied: “Just watched a 147 live on Eurosport, BBC are useless.”
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Another added: “Was so lucky to see it, thanks to Eurosport though. The BBC for some reason decided to show some "comic" pre-recorded video explaining how to use the rest instead of the live #147. Still, makes a change from them cutting games off to show gardening shows!”
A BBC spokesperson told Mirror Sport: "We clearly signposted to audiences that they could continue watching the live coverage on the Red Button and BBC iPlayer. We covered the story on the BBC Sport Website, with the full break available to watch again."
It is not the first gaffe from the tournament, with Homes Under The Hammer and a Danish crime thriller taking precedence on previous days.
Wilson, runner-up at the Crucible in 2020, has bagged himself a £40,000 reward for the maximum. And he will receive another £15,000 for the highest-break, although he will have to share it if someone clears up before the 17-day tournament concludes on May 1.
"I'm absolutely buzzing. I'm so happy with that," he beamed. "I've said for a long time I want to leave a legacy, that's something my kids can watch back again. It's been on my bucket list.
"There's no pressure like it. I actually got a little bit distracted and when I got down for the [final] pink [ball] I couldn't feel my right arm. That will live long in the memory."
The No 7 seed becomes just the ninth player to make a 147 at the iconic Sheffield venue. He has joined an exclusive club alongside Cliff Thorburn, Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, Ali Carter, John Higgins and Neil Robertson.
