Snooker Shoot Out chaos: Jimmy White, Alan McManus react as Ashley Hugill beaten after 'unfair' bleeper error - 'Story will not end there'
Updated 10/12/2025 at 17:47 GMT
There was chaos and confusion during Michael Holt's Snooker Shoot Out victory over Ashley Hugill. With the bleeps failing to sound, the latter ran out of time and fouled in the final seconds of their first-round match. That allowed The Hitman to come to the table and overturn a seven-point deficit as he claimed a controversial victory, described as "unsatisfactory" by TNT Sports' Neal Foulds.
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The Snooker Shoot Out descended into chaos and confusion on opening day, after the shot clock failed to bleep during Michael Holt's clash with Ashley Hugill.
The first round of the tournament, which is live on TNT Sports and discovery+, is taking place in Blackpool. Matches are played over a single frame, and must be completed within ten minutes.
There is therefore a time limit for each shot; 15 seconds for the first half of the match, reduced to ten seconds thereafter.
To ensure players are aware of how long they have left, a timer should bleep in the arena for the final five seconds of each shot.
But that failed to happen when Hugill, leading 39-32, was at the table in the dying embers of the match.
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He duly ran out of time as he attempted to escape a tricky snooker. Only a single bleep sounded as he had just two seconds remaining to make his shot, and he waved his arms in disbelief at the side of the table upon realising he had been penalised.
Holt immediately pounced, running back to the table with the points from the foul and mere seconds available to grab a victory from the jaws of defeat.
He slotted home a red and then a pink, before delicately clipping home another red as the clock ran out, thus claiming a dramatic 43-39 win.
The bafflement in the arena was evident straight away, with both players involved in an animated discussion.
TNT Sports commentator Neal Foulds said: "The bleeps didn't go off. I think that's unfair. It said the time up on the screen, but there was no sound of the bleeps."
He added: "The confusion is Hugill couldn't hear the bleeps. The timer ran out without the bleeps, which is a real shame.
"You go by the beeps, don't you. You're not going to look at the clock.
"You're counting the beeps down and that never happened, so he's unlucky. I understand his disappointment."
With the scoreboard taking a little time to catch up, and not initially awarding the four points for a foul, it was not immediately obvious what the final score was. In the end, it was just those four points which separated the two players.
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Some thought the match had been tied 39-39, but Holt pointed at the scoreboard and clock in an animated fashion, appearing to explain to Hugill why he felt he had won.
TNT Sports' Alan McManus believes the lack of sound effects hampered Hugill, and suggested the match should have been decided in a different fashion.
"That's what the players bank on," he said. "Getting the beeps set, as they play the shot. But if you can't hear it, you don't know how much time you have.
"How do you make a judgement call on this? But I'll agree with you Neal, it was unfair on Ashley.
"I'll be quite honest with you; I'd give them a blue-ball shoot-out to decide the winner."
Foulds, looking at the shot again, concluded: "He hit the red as well. "It wouldn't have been a foul. He played off two cushions, expertly, and hit the red.
"I think he's unlucky. If he's beaten because the beeps didn't work, I think that's unlucky. It's unsatisfactory."
There were a few boos from the Blackpool crowd when the referee awarded Holt the win, as Hugill shook his head and left the arena in disbelief.
Speaking after the match, Holt said: "He's unfortunate there to be honest. I just needed the red and the pink, and I got them happy days. I've been lucky here, I'm sure my phone is going to go bananas with texts, I'm going to get a lot of stick for this."
Even by the frantic nature of the Snooker Shoot Out, the incident set its own remarkable standard of chaos.
"That will run and run," McManus said. "The story will not end there."
Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the Snooker Shoot Out and Scottish Open, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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