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Fans at the Crucible received a stern warning from Tatiana Woollaston during the World Snooker Championship semi-final between Shaun Murphy and John Higgins. The match saw Murphy overturn a two-frame overnight deficit to book his place in the final, where he will face Wu Yize for the sport's biggest prize.

The contest was played to a conclusion on Saturday, with Higgins leading 13-10 at the start of the final session. During the second frame of the day, an unsavoury incident took place which resulted in Woollaston threatening to eject members of the audience. Murphy was building towards victory in the frame, having just potted the black to make it 70-0, when a mobile phone caused disruption.

Woollaston took matters into her own hands, turning towards the crowd and saying: "Please, can everyone check their phones and switch them off and put them on silent. You don't want to be the one I ask to leave if it rings again."

The fans responded with a round of applause, just a day after the behaviour of the crowd was criticised during the tournament's longest-ever frame.

It took place during Wu's victory over Mark Allen, with the frame extending over 100 minutes and no balls being potted for nearly an hour.

As the battle of attrition went on, the crowd began to show signs of frustration with slow hand clapping breaking out at one point.

Eventually, referee Marcel Eckhart took control of the game and warned both players that they had just three shots to change things or face a re-rack.

The deadlock was finally broken when Allen fouled by knocking in the black, allowing Wu to move ahead and win the frame.

Later in the same match, a member of the audience was swiftly removed after shouting out when Wu was preparing to take a shot. The fan was responsible for a series of outbursts regarding the Epstein Files and was abruptly asked to leave.

Eckhart addressed supporters, saying: "Can you get this person out please? Now, please." At the same time, other spectators called for the vocal member of the crowd to shut up.

TNT Sports commentator Philip Studd was taken aback by the bizarre nature of the outburst, saying: "That person has seen the last of snooker for quite a while, I think."

With the crowd unsettled in the immediate aftermath, Eckhart issued a call for calm as he urged them to let the players concentrate.

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