Elliot Slessor won a ‘bonkers’ match at the Shoot Out (Image: Getty)
Elliot Slessor made Snooker Shoot Out history by recording the lowest winning margin in the tournament’s history. An error-fuelled match saw him defeat Mostafa Dorgham 7-1 in Leicester.
Shoot Out matches are played to a streamlined version of snooker’s rules. All matches are contested over a single frame which lasts up to 10 minutes. A clock will time out players who take too long to take their shots.
Dorgham appeared to be heading for a remarkable 1-0 victory after potting a red. Both players missed several opportunities to extend the scoreline, with Slessor and Dorgham both appearing frustrated.
The British player appeared to be lacking composure but somehow managed to win 7-1, largely thanks to a fluke. He inadvertently potted a red and then a blue to take him beyond Dorgham’s score with the clock ticking towards the 10-minute mark.
Eurosport commentator Phil Studd said: “That’s the Shoot Out for you. Absolutely bonkers. There’s no justice. A monumental fluke is going to prove to be decisive. It’s a record-smashing match at the Shoot Out.”
Snooker icon Jimmy White added: “Elliot won’t care, he’s into the next round and he can go again. That’s what the Shoot Out is all about, things can be decided on anything.”
On a day of errors, White himself had been knocked out of the tournament earlier in the day after a rarely-seen mistake in his 75-30 defeat to Thai star Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. The 62-year-old was 30-19 when he accidentally brushed the cue ball as he was about to hit a red.
“Schoolboy errors all over the office,” he later said. “I’ve tried to play safe, knocked the blue in. I’ve got in again and touched the white. You should never hit the blue, terrible shot. Then I’ve touched the white, what is going on? Devastation.”
Jimmy White also made a major error at the Shoot Out (Image: Getty)
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Meanwhile, the unwanted record set by Slessor and Dorgham sees them topple the previous highest winning margin of 11-2 from 2022. In that match, Oliver Lines defeated Stan Moody. The record before that was Hamim Hussain’s 9–7 victory over Peter Lines in 2021.
Slessor was accused of lacking composure, with pundit Reanne Evans saying he lost his head. “Absolutely amazing,” Evans said. “I think his (Slessor’s) head had gone a little bit, it was 0-0 for so long. The fluke came out of nowhere and he puffed his cheeks out as if he got away with one.”
Slessor will face Mark Joyce in the second round of the Shoot Out. Joyce defeated Englishman Joshua Thomond 50-17 in the first round.