Mark Williams penalised seven points by referee after rare cue ball incident, he found it hilarious

Mark Williams picked up a seven-point penalty in his World Grand Prix match against Hossein Vafaei after referee Olivier Marteel was left unimpressed by his cue ball antics.

The former world number one, who would go on to win the second round match 4-1 with breaks of 108, 76 and 75, decided to have some fun during the fifth frame of Wednesday's second-round tie.

With a smirk on his face, Williams picked up the white ball before hiding it in his pocket as referee Marteel replaced the balls – a moment that brought plenty of laughs from those inside the Morningside Arena.

But moments later, a far from impressed Marteel decided to hand the Welsh player a seven-point penalty.

"You know that's a penalty seven," he could be heard saying in the below clip. "It's a penalty seven points to Hossein. You touched the ball during a consultation period, it's in the rules."

The match produces another oddity as Mark Williams is penalised 7 points for picking up the cue ball!#ITVSnooker #WorldGrandPrix pic.twitter.com/9rZFr9BbfF

— ITV Snooker (@itvsnooker) January 17, 2024

Williams would later comment on the incident in his post-match press conference.

He said: "World Snooker say 'have a bit of fun, try and show your character' and stuff like that. You do something like that, just to have a bit of fun, because it took him a while to get back, so I just picked it up and put it in my pocket, and I got fouled seven for it!

"What do they want? They want you to express yourself and have a bit of fun. When you do it, you get penalty points, so I won't be doing that again!"

It was an eventful game between Williams and Vafaei at the World Grand Prix, with the latter forgetting he needed the black when clearing to the pink with 63 from 57-0 down.

After the Welshman secured his place in the next round, a frustrated Vafaei walked off without shaking hands with his opponent.

"I just pulled him up about it and said 'what's your problem', and he said it was because I slapped my leg at the end, when I won," Williams said.

"I slapped my leg at the end because I shouldn't have gone for the pink. I should have played safe. I thought he would have come back to the table and carried on for snookers. That's why I was a bit fuming. He just stormed off, but if that's the reason... I don't care anyway!"

Williams will come up against Chinese player Cao Yupeng in Thursday's quarter-final.