Mark Williams threatened to throw his snooker cue into the crowd at the Welsh Open on Wednesday after losing position during a break. The 49-year-old, who was in action against Stephen Maguire, had potted a red ball with assistance from the rest but then watched on as the cue ball crashed into the black.

Williams has been going in search of the third Welsh Open title of his career this week after winning the tournament in 1999 and 2003.

But he was ultimately dumped out of this year’s event by Maguire, with the Scot winning the contest 4-2.

Williams made a slow start in his second-round match as his opponent claimed the first two frames.

The veteran halved his disadvantage by clinching the third frame and then took control in the fourth. But shortly after returning to the table with a healthy lead, he misjudged a red as the cue ball cannoned into the black.

The Welsh star then illustrated his frustrations by raising his cue and pretending to throw it into the crowd like a javelin. And commentator Dennis Taylor exclaimed: “Look out everybody.”

Williams eventually won the fourth frame to level the match at 2-2, but then lost the next two as Maguire progressed to the last-16, where he will meet Sanderson Lam.

Williams was sent packing by Maguire after getting the better of Florian Nuessle in his first match of the tournament.

And he came face-to-face with snooker foe Darren Morgan in the television studio after that encounter.

In 2018, Williams took to social media to question why Morgan had been handed a Welsh Open wildcard over then-16-year-old Jackson Page. And at the time, Morgan said: “Why Mark decided to then get on his high horse when I beat Jackson in the final is beyond me really.

“He thinks it's a bit of banter but there's consequences to everything people do and say. But where he thinks it's banter, to a lot of people it's cyber bullying - he is abusing his position. He's a bully. He's a keyboard warrior but he gets away with it.”

And on Tuesday, the atmosphere between the pair in the studio proved to be tense as Morgan asked the Welshman: “Would you say you enjoy it more nowadays compared to when you were young?”

Williams avoided eye contact with the 58-year-old as he responded with a “no-comment.”

And it was left to snooker pundit Ken Doherty and host Ian Hunt to continue questioning the three-time world champion.