How Liu Hongyu lost frame on three-miss rule against Si Jiahui at English Open Snooker 2025 - 'Maybe he would have needed a stepladder'

Liu Hongyu slipped to defeat to Si Jiahui at the English Open, but gave his fellow Chinese player a huge helping hand by losing a frame under the three-miss rule.

The race to four in Brentwood was in the balance at 2-2, with Liu looking good in the fifth frame.

At 21-4 ahead, Liu potted a red with the rest, but the pack did not split as he would have hoped and he found himself behind a cluster of balls - with the black the only colour he could see directly. 

Playing the black was not an easy option as he would have needed to bridge over three balls with the long extension.

As Neal Foulds remarked on TNT Sports: "I'm not sure how he would have hit the black, maybe he would have needed a stepladder."

With Liu aware of the perils of playing the black, he went for a shot with safety in mind by nominating the green.

He failed to make contact with the baulk colour on two occasions, and was warned by the referee that a further miss would result in him losing the frame.

Liu changed plan but, seemingly unwilling to play the black, he nominated the pink as his chosen colour. It required him to come off the right cushion, but he got the escape wrong and made contact with a red instead of the pink.

His head dropped, knowing he had lost the frame to fall 3-2 behind. In a strange quirk, he lost the frame despite being ahead on the scoreboard at 22-18.

The rules of snooker state that "after a foul and a miss has been called under paragraph (c) above when there was a clear path in a straight line from the cue-ball to a ball that was on or could have been on, such that central, full-ball, contact was available (in the case of reds, this to be taken as a full diameter of any red that is not obstructed by a colour), or when the cue-ball is touching a ball that could be on, then: (i) a second failure to first hit a ball on in making a stroke from the original position shall be called as a foul and a miss regardless of the difference in scores; (ii) in the event of a second failure as in (i) above, if asked to play again from the original position, the offender shall be warned by the referee that a further failure will result in the frame being awarded to their opponent."

There was a slight wrinkle, as it appeared Si was not aware of the situation as he got up from his chair to play the next shot, and had to be informed by the referee that Liu had missed three times in a row and forfeited the frame.

"He had the direct position to see a color, and he did not [hit one] so he loses the frame," the official told Si.

Liu did not recover from the setback, as he missed a simple yellow off its spot in the following frame and a break of 59 from Si was enough to take him into round four.

Si’s win sets him up for a meeting with either Hossein Vafaei or Luca Brecel.

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