'Like something out a sitcom!' – Judd Trump moves ball with HAND after tricking referee at World Championship

Updated 27/04/2022 at 13:15 GMT

Judd Trump filed a new definition for ‘naughty snooker’ in the dictionary after dropping a mischievous trick during his World Championship clash with Stuart Bingham at the Crucible. Poor Ben Williams was just trying to do his job, but the referee was left red-faced as everyone but him cottoned on to what was happening. Trump won the final three frames to draw level at 8-8 in the quarter-final.

Watch as Trump winds up referee, moves ball with hand

Judd Trump moved a ball with his hand after tricking the referee to look away during his World Championship quarter-final with Stuart Bingham.

The theatrics occurred after Trump accidentally snookered himself as he hunted down a century break. He found himself wedged behind the pink with no obvious route to the brown, his next ball.

"Well it’s going to be a trick shot if it’s to be a century," began David Hendon on the Eurosport mic.

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The 2019 world champion weighed up his options. Either he could play a hit-and-hope shot off multiple cushions...or he could distract referee Ben Williams and move the pink ball with his hand to free up a path to the brown.

He settled on option two. Trump suggested to Williams that there was a disturbance in the crowd, pointing towards a fictional ruckus. As the crowd giggled along, Trump quickly moved the pink and fired his next shot before the official had a chance to cotton on.

By the time Williams had turned back around, balls were crashing around the table – with the blue eventually finding a home in the bottom left pocket to add to the confusion.

"Fantastic. Ben Williams fell right for that, didn’t he. ‘Look away, I’ll move the pink’," continued Hendon as Trump returned to his chair with a huge grin etched across his face.

"Things are turning round for Trump, he’s enjoying it suddenly. That was like something out a sitcom."

Trump reeled off the final three frames of the second session to draw level with Bingham at 8-8. The pair play to a conclusion from 19:00 BST on Wednesday, with the winner facing Yan Bingtao or Mark Williams in the last four.