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World Snooker Championship commentators were left lost for words after Leigh Highfield jokingly swung his cue in the direction of the referee. Highfield was competing in the opening match of the tournament against Zhao Xintong, who won his maiden Crucible crown during last year's edition.

Highfield had got off to a poor start with what was his first match at the World Championship since 2022, as the Chinese potter raced to a two-frame lead. Highfield rallied to win two of the next three frames, meaning the score was poised at 3-2 heading into the sixth.

But a solid break from Zhao saw him establish a 47-1 lead, leaving Highfield in need of yet another recovery act. Hoping for a route back into the contest, he attempted to slowly roll the up to the brown but ultimately fell just short and gave away a costly foul.

Frustrated with himself, the 35-year-old shook his head during a moment of dissatisfaction, but he was quick to see the funny side, as he jokingly mimicked swinging the cue towards referee Rob Spencer. The man in the middle shared a laugh with Highfield, who was forced to return to the table after Zhao put him back in.

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Speaking on commentary, John Parrott said: "Oh my goodness me, oh my dear, what have you done."

Ken Doherty chimed in with: "We were only talking about that weren't we a couple of frames ago, it's a twitchy shot this, you've got to be perfect with them. You don't want to do that, it's the cardinal sin."

Parrott continued: "I hate to use the word pivotal, but I'm going to use it. What a change in the match that could be, because it's difficult to get out of. You've got quite a big margin for error there, as long as you just touch the brown. You're certainly going to leave him snookered but how do you get out of him."

Highfield played a masterful shot to escape the snooker, but it wasn't enough to stop Zhao from taking the frame and reestablishing his two-frame lead. But in keeping with the topsy-turvy nature of the contest, Highfield struck back once more in the seventh to make it 4-3, and again in the eighth to level it at 4-4.