Watch the moment Mark Selby and referee Natalia Gradinari climb on table to check if balls are touching in Tour Championship clash with John Higgins
Published 02/04/2026 at 23:45 GMT+1
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Mark Selby may have suffered a narrow 10-8 defeat to John Higgins in the 2026 Tour Championship quarter-finals, but it was a bizarre moment when he climbed onto the table that really caught the eye. Selby lay flat on his front to try and get a closer look to see if the cue ball was touching another ball and help referee Natalia Gradinari to make an informed decision.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Snooker has a catalogue of weird and wacky moments and on Thursday night there was another to add to the list.
Facing John Higgins in a big quarter-final match in the 2026 Tour Championship, Mark Selby climbed onto the table to try and help the referee to make a decision.
With the cue ball and the blue appearing to be touching, referee Natalia Gradinari struggled to decipher if that was in fact the case.
She was forced to straddle the table to try and get a better look to determine wholeheartedly if they were touching, before Selby followed and lay flat on the table, putting a hand above the ball to dim the shine on them to help make a decision.
It was a scene that the Manchester Central crowd, Gradinari and both Higgins and Selby laughed at and there was some humour found in the commentary box too.
Three-time World Championship semi-finalist Alan McManus praised Selby for trying to help the referee.
He said: ”It is difficult for Natalia to determine whether it is a touching ball.
”It is actually a really nice thing that Mark is doing, it is to his advantage that it is touching in some ways, he just aided Natalia in getting the absolute correct decision.”
McManus’ co-commentator David Hendon found the funny side of the whole incident.
”She’s having to clamber on the table here,” he said. ”Mark is going to have a look himself.
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”Totally normal sport this, isn’t it, clambering on the table, what else would you be doing on a Thursday night?”
It was a tightly contested battle in a rematch of last year’s final between two players who can boast eight World Championships between them taking centre stage.
Eventually, it was Higgins who found a way to win 10-8 and book his place in the semi-finals.
Having trailed 5-3 after the first session, Selby won five straight frames to lead 8-5 and it seemed he was heading for a routine victory.
But there were several twists and turns and Higgins gained momentum and won the next four frames to lead 9-8, before holding on to claim victory.
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He will play reigning world champion Zhao Xintong, who defeated Chris Wakelin 10-4, as his form begins to turn ahead of his title defence beginning at the Crucible in just over a fortnight’s time.
Judd Trump will face Neil Robertson in the other semi-final, having dramatically beaten Shaun Murphy 10-9 in a pulsating clash.
Murphy led 7-5 but Trump was able to take the game to a decider and hold strong to book his place in the final four.
Robertson came back in some style to beat Barry Hawkins 10-8, having trailed 8-6.
Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the 50th World Championship, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.
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