Drama unfolded in the Arizona Open third round as Robbie Capito was called by the referee for a controversial foul in his 10-4 win over Jayson Shaw in Yuma.
Capito was penalised for breaking without force in the seventh rack of the contest whilst leading 6-0, sparking a lengthy discussion between him and the match official.
The break shot ruling in WNT rulebook reads: ‘All players will be required to use a forceful break when competing in World Nineball Tour events. The determination of a forceful break will be at the discretion of the officials at the tournament.
‘If a break is not forceful enough, it could lead to a warning by a referee. A second warning will result in a foul being called and ball-in-hand awarded to the opponent.’
It was the first time this rule has been implemented by a match official in a WNT major tournament since the ruling was implemented three years ago, with Capito and Shaw both angered by the situation in contrasting ways.
“To me it was just stupid,” Capito told the World Nineball Tour immediately after reaching the last 16.
“I cooperated with the ref, he told me I had a softer break, so I just broke harder. It just in that rack I hit it thinner than usual and the balls just didn’t spread. He didn’t warn me, he just picked up the cue ball, called foul and that is why I was p*ssed.
“I’ve just got to accept it. The conditions are uncontrollable, I’ve just got to control what I can control and do what I can do.”
A distraught Shaw, meanwhile, said: “It was five racks too late. He was doing it from the beginning. The ref said that it was the same break in the first three games and I guess that’s why he pulled him on the break.
“He played good, I didn’t have any real chances at the start. He ran the first three racks. I had a slight chance, missed the five ball, and after that it was just chasing the game.
“I thought I was getting back into it but it was too late. The ref didn’t do anything – he waited five games but that was too late and I said that to Marcel [Eckert, head referee]. When you’re breaking soft, I can’t do anything about it.”
An incident notably occurred in last year’s US Open Championship quarter-finals in Atlantic City when Fedor Gorst imitated Michael Baoanan soft-breaking, although no foul was called by the referee on that occasion.
