Stephen Maguire appeared to kill and eat a fly off the table during his quarter-final at the World Snooker Championship.
The Scot exited the competition on Wednesday with a 13-8 loss to David Gilbert and his behaviour at the Crucible raised some eyebrows.
Gilbert was leading 11-8 and was 23-0 up in the 20th frame when a fly got in the eye line of Maguire as he prepared to take a shot.
He swatted the table between the brown and green ball to remove it from play before picking up the fly and putting it in his mouth.
Snooker: Stephen Maguire killed and ate a fly during his World Championship loss
BBC
Maguire appeared to chew and the crowd laughed before he took his next shot.
Dave Hendon on commentary for Eurosport said: "Well, he has shown no mercy there, and that has been his general approach today! Here we go!"
Maguire claimed afterwards that he did later spit out the fly when the cameras weren't on him.
The 43-year-old said: "It was just a fly. I spat it out when nobody was looking."
Fans gave their reaction to the incident on social media, with one writing: "Hard as nails that lad."
While a few X users simply put: "Disgusting." Another fan said: "Who knew a tiny fly could steal the spotlight at the Snooker World Championship?
"Nature always finds a way to make things interesting!"
Maguire was attempting to forge a comeback after Gilbert had taken a big early lead in the encounter.
However, he failed to win another frame after the fly incident and Gilbert secured the win.
Maguire was disappointed with how he played, claiming he made it easy for Gilbert.
He said: "I felt I just handed it to him, which I hate doing. I don't know what happened in the first session and it was a long way back from there.
"I lost all the close frames. I don't feel I played any quality snooker, I just battled through.
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Snooker: Stephen Maguire appeared to chew the fly but later said he spat it out
BBC
"Good luck to Dave, he's a nice kid and we go back a long way. He'll have to improve.
"He was there for taking last night and I was disappointed to finish 10-6 because it could have been 9-7."
Gilbert will face Kyren Wilson in the semi-final after he beat John Higgins on Wednesday evening.
The 42-year-old has come a long way in just a matter of weeks, revealing he almost didn't turn up to qualifying.
Snooker: Stephen Maguire swatted the fly before putting it in his mouth
Eurosport
Gilbert said: "Five weeks I go I couldn't even be bothered to play in the qualifiers. This would have seemed impossible so it has been an incredible turnaround and I feel it's a massive achievement.
"I am more confident than ever, for whatever reason, I truly believe in myself. I have proved to myself that I can still play.
"I miss being a top 16 player. I have had times in my career where I have pressed the self-destruct button.
"But the motivation is back now. If I am sitting here on Monday night with the trophy, no one could be more proud."
