Peter Ebdon's 'cue drop' reaction to a noisy spectator amused Ronnie O'Sullivan during his victory over David Gilbert that set up a Northern Ireland semi-final with Mark Selby.
The Rocket was on the other table when the incident happened during Ebdon's quarter-final clash with Eden Sharav, as the veteran Englishman took exception to noise made in the crowd when he was playing a shot.
It happened when Ebdon was leading 2-1 but he still went on to win the frame with a break of 71 before taking the next with a run of 62 to move within one of victory.
However, Sharav then dug deep to win four frames on the trot across almost four hours of play, including a gruelling decider, to set up a clash with Judd Trump, who earlier signed off with a break of 120 to complete a 5-3 victory over Ryan Day.
Afterwards O'Sullivan, who brushed aside Gilbert 5-2, to continue his march towards a 34th career ranking title, told Eurosport: "If looks could kill that geezer would have been beheaded! I looked round and could see two massive geezers but Ebbo didn't care and dropped his cue in pure disgust!
"I started to be scared if I was moving because I was in his eyeline! Ebbo's funny, he's a different class!"
The 42-year-old made his 974th century break of career (with the help of potting two reds with one shot!) against Gilbert as well as impressive runs of 85, 83 and 73 during a one-sided affair but he'll surely be in for a tougher match against the world number one on Saturday.
Three-time world champion Selby, chasing a 16th career ranking title, has been on fine form in Belfast this week and edged past Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 to book his last four spot.
Northern Ireland Open results & semi-final schedule
Quarter-Finals
- Eden Sharav 5-4 Peter Ebdon
- Judd Trump 5-2 Ryan Day
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-2 David Gilbert
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 3-5 Mark Selby
Semi-Finals (Played on Saturday)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan v Mark Selby (1pm)
- Eden Sharav v Judd Trump (7pm)
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