Is this the best snooker shot EVER? Trapped behind the black, Louis Heathcote uses the jaws of the pocket to reach the yellow… and POTS IT!
- Louis Heathcote produced one of the greatest shots in snooker history last week
- Heathcote was trying to qualify for the World Championship against Ryan Day
- But he was snookered, positioned behind the black ball on the bottom cushion
- He smashed the ball off of the jaws of the pocket and it rebounded at 90 degrees
- The cue ball then smashed into the yellow and knocked it into the top pocket
Louis Heathcote produced arguably the greatest snooker shot in the history of the game last weekend when he somehow potted after cannoning the ball off of the jaws of the pocket.
During his World Championship qualifying clash with Ryan Day in Sheffield on Sunday, Heathcote appeared to be in a corner he could not get out of.
Winning 4-3 at the time, Heathcote found himself in the unenviable position of being snookered, positioned behind the black ball on the cushion.
Louis Heathcote produced arguably the greatest snooker shot in the history of the game
Heathcote appeared to be in a corner he could not get out of with the cue ball behind the black
After weighing up his options, Heathcote let fly towards the pocket directly along the bottom
Miraculously the ball hit into the jaws of the bottom right pocket and ricocheted between them
After hitting the jaws of the pocket, the cue ball then shot out at an almost 90 degree angle
Somehow, the cue ball struck the yellow ball and spared him a penalty in the tense qualifier
It then also cannoned the yellow into pocket to provide Heathcote with a miraculous escape
With very little room to dig himself out of the problem, Heathcote weighed up his options.
The white ball was positioned so tight to the black ball that any shot posed a serious problem.
But, disregarding a potential penalty, Heathcote let fly towards the pocket directly along the bottom cushion of the table.
Miraculously the ball smashed into the jaws of the bottom right pocket and shot out at an almost 90 degree angle.
Somehow, not only did the white strike the yellow ball and spare him a penalty, it also cannoned the yellow into pocket to provide Heathcote with a miraculous escape.
Heathcote was playing a World Championship qualifying clash with Ryan Day in Sheffield
Heathcote appeared to joke on Twitter that he ‘can’t believe’ people thought it was a fluke
After pulling off one of snooker’s greatest shots, Heathcote barely looked bothered when he potted. Surely he didn’t mean it?
He certainly appeared to suggest he did on Twitter, posting after the match: ‘Can’t believe everyone’s saying it was a fluke’.
Heathcote also retweeted Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, who simply posted ‘Woah’ in response to a video of the fortuitous shot.
Unfortunately he couldn’t build on the enormous slice of luck he received and failed to clear the colours in that frame, meaning Day could level the encounter at 4-4.
It was Day who then progressed to the next round, winning a nerve-racking final-frame decider to progress to the final stage of qualifying.
Fans wondered whether it was intentional by Heathcote, although must thought it was luck
Fans were left wondering whether or not it was intentional by Heathcote, although most claimed it was purely luck.
One Twitter user wrote: ‘Definitely a billion to one fluke, but I say, if a player plays a good shot to hit the ball, they deserve a bit of luck. He was definitely lucky’.
Another added: ‘No way could he have predicted the line the cue ball would have taken after rattling in the jaws. Although it was the played shot, it was a fluke he potted it.’
‘100 per cent fluke. Probably one in a million chance of happening!’, tweeted a fan while another said: ‘Would’ve been better if he meant to do it!’.
But in a poll ran by Eurosport UK’s Twitter account, in which 2,895 people voted, 52.8 per cent voted that he meant to pull off the shot leaving 47.2 per cent insisting it was a fluke.
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