Mark Williams was in the mood to produce a piece of snooker wizardry at the Wuhan Open as he attempted to chip the cue ball over two others to pull off an iconic pot. The three-time world champion was taking on Chatchapong Nasa in the qualifying round of the tournament on Sunday.

The Welshman was up three frames when he opted to take on the unusual shot of bouncing the cue ball over the blue and pink balls in order to pot the yellow ball. Unfortunately for Williams, it didn't quite pan out the way he thought it would as he sent the white ball bouncing off the table before it clattered a metal frame on the floor in the venue.

The referee could only smile after witnessing one of the sport's greatest players attempt what could have been a shot talked about for decades. The bizarre mishap didn't stop the momentum of the 50-year-old, who raced to a 5-0 victory over his rookie opponent.

He wasn't the only former world champion in action in the qualifying round, with Shaun Murphy also subjecting his opponent - 14-year-old wonderkid Michal Szubarczyk - to a dominant 5-0 victory in a match that lasted just 80 minutes. The Polish starlet has been tipped for a bright future in the sport after he became the youngest ever professional on the World Snooker Tour.

After an impressive showing at the EBSA European Championships, the teenager was nominated for a place. His excellence was noticed by Williams, who offered up high praise to the youngster as he compared him to seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.

"He's one of the best 14-year-olds I've seen in my life," said the Welshman. "He's up there with Ronnie O'Sullivan at that age. Maybe not as good, but not far away. Every time I watched him he was knocking in 80s, 90s, 100s. It was frightening."

He did, however, urge everyone in the snooker world to not place too much expectation on him as he took to X to write: "I told everyone about him well before he got on tour. Don't put too much pressure on him, he will find it difficult on tour."

Despite having been a professional since 1992, Williams has continued to remain a perennial contender at the top of the sport and very nearly captured a fourth world title last month but lost in the final to Chinese star Zhao Xintong.