Mark Williams has revealed that he confronted Hossein Vafaei immediately after their World Grand Prix match on Wednesday evening when the latter stormed off without shaking his opponent's hand.
The 4-1 scoreline failed to tell the full story of an eventful match on the green baize in Leicester.
In the fifth frame, Williams was dramatically given a seven-point penalty for hiding the cue ball in his pocket.
As referee Olivier Marteel was re-spotting balls after a foul, the Welshman jokingly picked up the cue ball to confuse the match official.
Mark Williams confronted Hossein Vafaei after the match
ITV
The crowd inside the arena lapped up the practical joke with the referee also initially smiling.
But the smiles disappeared when Marteel reprimanded Williams, docking him seven points for lifting the cue ball off the table.
There was even more drama at the end when Vafaei conceded the match after Williams missed a long pink with the 29-year-old then storming out of the arena without shaking his opponent's hand.
Williams was left stunned, calling the Iranian snooker star "pathetic" for walking off.
He said: "I just pulled him up about it and said 'what's your problem', and he said it was because I slapped my leg at the end, when I won," he said.
"I slapped my leg at the end because I shouldn't have gone for the pink. I should have played safe.
"I thought he would have come back to the table and carried on for snookers.
"That's why I was a bit fuming. He just stormed off, but if that's the reason... I don't care anyway!"
And no handshake from Vafaei for Williams...#ITVSnooker #WorldGrandPrix pic.twitter.com/AJxlKSerWV
— ITV Snooker (@itvsnooker) January 17, 2024
Williams also took a pop at snooker bosses for not letting his practical joke slide, insisting he was doing what they want players to do more of.
"World Snooker say 'have a bit of fun, try and show your character' and stuff like that," he added.
"You do something like that, just to have a bit of fun, because it took him a while to get back, so I just picked it up and put it in my pocket, and I got fouled seven for it!
"What do they want? They want you to express yourself and have a bit of fun.
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Mark Williams was far from impressed from being penalised for his joke
ITV
"When you do it, you get penalty points, so I won't be doing that again!"
Vafaei told O'Sullivan to retire from snooker at the 2022 World Championships to spark a huge row.
A year later and the Iranian went on the offensive again in Sheffield, stating he wanted to "shut" O'Sullivan's mouth.
The pair appeared to bury the hatchet at the UK Championships last month when they shared a warm embrace after O'Sullivan beat Vafaei 6-2 in the semi-finals.
