Snooker star’s mum ‘in bits’ in crowd as commentator left feeling bad for her

Vladislav Gradinari’s mother was visibly nervous in the crowd as she watched her son’s dramatic victory over Long Zehuang at the Snooker Shoot Out.The 16-year-old, who hails from Moldova, secured a narrow 18-15 win over his Chinese rival to advance to the third round in Leicester.The match was hanging in the balance with 90 seconds left on the clock as Gradinari knocked the pink into the middle pocket. As he was lining up his next shot on a red, the camera panned to his mother who was watching in the crowd. commentator David Hendon noticed the nervous look on her face and said: “He’s got this red to right corner. It’s not a gimme. Oh, look at his mum! Bless her. She’s in bits.”

Co-commentator Steven Hallworth added: “I think everybody is, to be honest.”

Gradinari brushed off the pressure to nail the red into the right corner pocket before sinking the brown into the top left. He tried to follow up by firing another tricky red into the right corner but was unable to pull it off.Luckily for the teenager, his opponent missed a crucial red in the dying seconds to give up the victory and ensure Gradinari’s place in the next round.There was a controversial moment earlier in the match when the referee made an unusual error, causing no shortage of confusion. Long played a safety shot and brushed the red with the cue ball, but the referee called a foul under the impression he had missed.The bizarre mistake was met with confusion from both players and the fans in attendance, while the Eurosport commentary team were also left surprised by what they had seen.Hallworth said: “He’s just caught the edge of that red. What’s the referee done here? He’s had an absolute mare. He’s hit the red. VAR. We need VAR here.

“It’s a very unusual situation, this. Can we have some order for just a few moments please?”The referee eventually realised his mistake and reversed his decision, allowing Gradinari to continue after the cue ball had been placed back in the right position.The quick-fire format of the Snooker Shoot Out is clearly adding extra pressure for both players and referees, leaving them without much time to consider important decisions at the table.Mark Selby, who beat Jak Jones in his second round match, believes the added time constraints have helped to increase the entertainment value.”It’s great [that] there’s room for it in the calendar,” he said on Eurosport after his victory over Jones. “I think they should have another one.”