An angry John Higgins lost to Chris Wakelin in the quarter-finals of the International Championship in Nanjing after the deciding frame was pushed back by several hours.
With the best-of-11 frame contest level at 5-5 the referee ruled the afternoon session had concluded, to the evident disgust of four-time world champion Higgins, who gestured and appeared to swear before leaving the table.
When the players finally resumed, after the evening session had taken place, 32-year-old Wakelin’s break of 62 secured a 6-5 victory – his third straight win over a former world champion in Nanjing, eastern China.
The defeat for Higgins, 49, means the Scotsman fails to qualify for the Champion of Champions event in Bolton next week.
Having defeated Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams in the previous two rounds, Wakelin will face China’s Xiao Guodong in the semi-finals after he beat Wales’ Jackson Page 6-4.
China’s Ding Junhui is also through to the last four, compiling breaks of 129 and 123 in a 6-4 win over Kyren Wilson.
Junhui will play compatriot Xu Si, after he beat Gary Wilson 6-5.
