Jack Lisowski amused the Alexandra Palace crowd after attempting to swat away a wasp by swinging his cue like a baseball bat. The bizarre moment came during a 6-2 win over reigning world champion Luca Brecel at the 50th edition of the Masters on Sunday.
Breaks of 70, 100, 96 and 69 gave Lisowski a comfortable four-frame cushion heading into the mid-session interval and despite a late fightback from the Belgian it wouldn’t be enough to break the Englishman’s stride as he cruised into the quarter-finals.
There he is set to face another former world champion Shaun Murphy, winner of the 2005 tournament, on Thursday. Murphy also won his last 16 match 6-2, beating Chinese debutant and English Open finalist Zhang Anda in impressive fashion.
Lisowski may have made it look easy against Brecel but he did face some adversity during the match, mainly from a rogue wasp. During the first frame, Lisowski was distracted by the insect after potting a pink into the middle pocket.
The 32-year-old then visibly became distracted and was seen attempting to whack the wasp with his cue. His wild swing almost made contact with the table which would have resulted in a caution from the referee.
Speaking after the game, Lisowski told BBC Sport: “You never know what it is going to be like when you come out here but I felt like I could not miss in the first four frames. I think I found something in China because I was really struggling and I was really scared coming here because I did not know which Jack was going to turn up.
“For me, this is the scariest tournament to play in and I started well and then it turns into a great place to play.” Meanwhile, Brecel was a figure of frustration after yet another early exit.
“It was terrible. If I keep playing like this then you will see me in 2025 Q School,” he said. The Belgian has failed to progress beyond the last 16 of a tournament since reaching the final of the invitational Shanghai Masters in September, four months removed from his World Championship triumph in May.
