Kyren Wilson comically put his fingers in his ears to block out referee Olivier Marteel in his Masters final defeat to Shaun Murphy on Sunday.
The reigning world champion found himself in a spot of bother early in the 12th frame. With Murphy 7-4 up in their first-to-10 showdown, blunders were a luxury Wilson could not afford.
A crucial moment was set up when the 33-year-old opted for a thin-contact pot but missed with his first two attempts. Marteel turned towards Wilson to say: “If I have to call a miss again, you lose the frame.”
But before the Belgian could get his words out, Wilson playfully blocked his ears. Marteel nodded and smiled as the Alexandra Palace audience erupted into laughter in an unusual but warming moment at a vital stage in the tournament’s showpiece match.
Eurosport commentator Dave Hendon said: “Well, you can put your fingers in your ears but the warning has come nonetheless. He has to hit one, obviously, but it’s a perilous position either way.”
Amid the threat of falling even further behind, Wilson played it safe but went on to lose a scrappy frame, with Murphy going four clear to put himself in a commanding position.
Wilson produced a spirited fightback in the final, battling from 8-4 down to make it 8-7. But from then on, Murphy steadied the ship and powered to a 10-7 victory for his second Masters title.
In the invitation tournament showcasing 16 of the world’s best players, Wilson did not encounter too much trouble en route to the second final of his career, having lost to Mark Allen in his only other final appearance seven years ago.
He defeated Zhang Anda 6-4 on Wednesday, beat Luca Brecel by the same scoreline on Friday and then cast aside world No. 1 Judd Trump 6-3 in the semi-finals.
Ahead coming up short against Murphy, Wilson said: “I just made it too easy for Shaun today. You can’t do that with how well he’s been playing this week. But I proved why I’m the world champion, I fought as hard as I could.
“From where I was at 8-4 down, a lot of people would have written me off. But every credit to Shaun, making a century to finish for the fans. So yeah, well done to Shaun.”
