Mark Allen was praised for his sportsmanship in the heat of battle after taking time to ensure referee Desislava Bozhilova was in the correct position to spot his foul.
The Northern Irishman won his first UK Championship crown in style fighting back from 6-1 down against China's Ding Junhui to eventually triumph 10-7.
At a pivotal moment of the match, with Ding leading 5-6, in the 11th frame Allen attempted a difficult shot attempting to hit the yellow ball with the green blocking. Not sure if he was going to concede a foul in the process Allen alerted referee Bozhilova to his shot attempt and asked her to stand close to the balls.
"That was brilliant by Mark," said Eurosport commentator Alan McManus. "He asked the referee 'please go and just stand (by the ball) as I might foul here'."
Allen failed in his attempt to hit the yellow conceding the foul but McManus was full of praise for the star's sportsmanship. He added: "That's brilliant by Mark Allen. Well done."
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Ding came into the match full of confidence after a whitewash victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan followed by a semi-final win against Tom Ford 6-3.
The Chinese star looked in full control leading 6-2 at the break in the best of 19-frame contest. However, Allen fought his way back into the clash by winning the opening four frames of the evening session to draw level with Ding.
Remarkably, the world No. 4 took the lead and despite Ding showing some desistence ran out 10-7 victor.
“I don’t really know how I’ve done it if I’m honest," Allen told Eurosport after the impressive victory.
“I didn’t play very well most of the week. I struggled at the start and Ding punished me heavily, scored ridiculously well in the first session. And I just hung on and hung on, and scraped the last frame.
"All I said to myself was, ‘can I win the next frame?’ And ultimately the answer is always yes. So, I was never getting ahead of myself and I was just waiting for that chance at the end.”
