UK Snooker Championships: Play suspended... you won't believe what has happened
RICKY WALDEN was forced to run out the arena to find someone with pliers as play was bizarrely suspended at the UK Snooker Championships.
Ricky Walden had to leave the arena due to a cue problem
Walden lost the opening three frames to Shaun Murphy but he finally got in the balls early on in the fourth.
He potted a red with his extension on his cue then proceeded to walk to his chair to take it off.
However, it ended in disaster as the screw-thread that secures it in place got wedged in the cue.
Walden did his best to remove it but his bare hands were not enough.
The referee then allowed Walden to leave the table to find someone with a pair of pliers to fix the problem.
The thread of the extension stuck in Ricky Walden's cue
Shaun Murphy had to wait around as Ricky Walden left to sort the problem
Snooker legend John Parrott, commentaing for the BBC, could not believe what he was seeing.
He laughed: "The problem with it is because there's so much weight at the bottom of the cue, it's completely changed the weight of the cue.
"He's got to go and find someone who has a set of pliers to get it out."
Ken Doherty was appearing alongside Parrott in the studio and said: "I've never seen it happen before, never. It's quite unusual."
After a five-minute break Walden returned with a frame-winning break of 80 to take the frame.