Robert Milkins let his frustrations get the better of him on Friday as he launched his cue to the ground in a fit of rage after missing a relatively easy red.
The No 16 seed was drawn to face David Gilbert, who pulled off an upset win over defending champion Luca Brecel in the first round.
Milkins edged past China's Pang Junxu 10-9 to make it through to the last-16, but admitted to 'fighting my demons' throughout the match.
Those demons were on full show once again as he tried to battle back against Gilbert, who took an early lead in the all-English clash.
Robert Milkins threw his cue on the floor in anger
BBC
With Gilbert 7-4 up on frames, Milkins had a chance to pull one back with the pack of reds opened up.
He needed to work the cue ball for one specific red into the bottom right corner, but it was seen as an easy pot.
However, Milkins missed the pot and immediately stood up in fury before launching his cue to the ground.
The Crucible audience audibly gasped while several spectators could be seen murmuring to one another about Milkins' outburst.
The 48-year-old slumped in his chair with is cue still on the ground before getting back up to pick the stick up.
Former world champion John Parrott called out Milkins for his behaviour on BBC, insisting he could have done serious damage to his cue.
"Milkins is so frustrated with his own level of performance but to throw your cue, it's very unusual to see that," Parrot said.
"You can do damage to it, knock the tip off. He's not happy at all.
Robert Milkins slumped in his chair after the outburst
BBC
"Vesuvius has been bubbling under for a day and a bit - and unfortunately she just blasted off."
It proved to be a turning point of the match as well as Milkins failed to recover while Gilbert took full advantage of his opponent's form.
Gilbert won the next five frames before the end of the session to give himself a commanding 12-4 lead.
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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒆'𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒓 😬
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Frustration for Robert Milkins as he throws his cue on the floor after missing this pot 👀#CazooWorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/b3EMJbd3Wn
The 42-year-old needs just one more frame to progress to the quarter-finals, where he will face either Stephen Maguire or Shaun Murphy.
Milkins has never made it past the second round of the World Snooker Championships in his career.
Meanwhile, Gilbert will be hoping to go one better than his career-best performance in 2017 when he reached the semi-finals.
