Snooker star upset after being docked frame exits World Championship in a decider

World number 81 Craigie had to navigate three rounds of qualifying at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield in order to reach the main draw of snooker's blue riband event for the second time in his career.

Former world under-21 champion Craigie - who made his Crucible debut in 2021 - began his gauntlet against Q School amateur top-up Umut Dikme from Germany in the second qualifying round.

The opening four frames of the contest were split, but the big talking point came immediately after the mid-session interval.

With Craigie ready to break off in frame five, he was informed by the match referee that he was being docked a frame for 'not being at the table at the agreed return time after the interval'.

After the final frame before a mid-session interval, players are told when and where they need to be for the resumption, but it appears that Craigie turned up late and the punishment of losing a frame was applied.

On the livestream, Craigie appeared frustrated with this decision, and seemingly wanted to go and speak with an official backstage about it. It was reported that he went to the tournament office, but the loss of frame decision stood.

Craigie composed himself after the incident, making breaks of 131 and 74 en route to building a 5-4 overnight lead.

Returning the next afternoon for the concluding session, Craigie went two clear for the first time at 6-4 up before Dikme produced a fine spell of scoring, registering runs of 80, 53, 69 and 60 in taking four of the next five frames for an 8-7 lead.

Momentum shifted again, though, as Craigie levelled, and then reached the hill first at 9-8.

However, Dikme conjured up another impressive salvo, fashioning a 103 to force a deciding frame where he made a 72 to score a 10-9 victory.

On X (formerly Twitter), the conversation around Craigie’s docked frame has rumbled on, with the Whitley Lodge Snooker account giving their version of events of what went on.

In the penultimate qualifying round, Dikme will face reigning Northern Ireland Open champion Jack Lisowski.

The 26-year-old doesn't currently have a professional tour card but came very close to qualifying for snooker's top flight for the first time at last year's Q School.

But due to finishing top of the order of merit list, he has been invited to all this season's professional ranking events (except for the Players Series ones that he didn't qualify for) due to an available spot in each.

Should he defeat Lisowski and then either He Guoqiang or Long Zehuang in the final qualifying round to reach the Crucible, he would also be rewarded with a two-year professional tour card.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Championship qualifying rounds, visit here.