Mark Williams produced an early contender for snooker shot of the year during his Masters win against defending champion Yan Bingtao; a one-handed frame-ball pink.
The 46-year-old three-time World Champion secured a historic victory against one of China's most successful ever snooker players, winning five of the last six frames after going 3-1 down.
He pulled off breaks of 67, 85 and 104 during Sunday afternoon's session but it was this one-handed escape to seal the fifth frame that grabbed the headlines. He even celebrated before it dropped in. Outrageous.
As you can see in the footage above, Williams, who also potted a trademark underarm shot during Sunday's session, knocks the pink off the cushion before it slotted into the yellow pocket.
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"I play them all the time in practice and in matches I don’t miss many underarm shots," Williams said after victory.
"There are some snookers I would rather play one-handed – it is not taking the mickey out of my opponent it is just that I feel more comfortable and if I get most of them, why not?"
Williams contracted COVID in October and has been suffering the after-affects in recent weeks.
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In fact, he fell asleep in his chair during a second round defeat to 56th seed Anthony Williams in the UK Championship, blaming COVID's after-affects.
“Thirty years as a professional, that’s the first time I’ve ever fell asleep in the chair,” said Williams back in November.
“It was 3-2 and I was out. My head went down, and I woke up and I didn’t have a clue where I was for about five seconds. It was a bit embarrassing but I was just shattered.
“I need to be playing in the mornings really, or afternoons. The more the day goes on the more tired I get.
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“It’s disappointing but there’s a lot worse people that have had Covid than I’ve had it, so I’m one of the lucky ones really.
“It’s definitely better than what it was a couple of weeks ago so I’ve just got to keep going, but if I play night matches I’m going to really struggle.”
After the win against Bingtao at the weekend, Williams said: "I am lucky I had an afternoon match. If I played a night match… you know in the house I am talking to my wife and within 10 seconds I am fast asleep.
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"It is just weird. It feels like you are carrying five bags of coal around on your shoulder all the time. I’m definitely better than where I was a month ago but still nowhere near."
Thoughts on Williams' outrageous one-handed shot?
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Featured Image Credit: @WeAreWST/TwitterTopics: Snooker
