Snooker: Shock at the Crucible - literally for Graeme Dott

Static shocks affect last-16 encounter at the World Snooker Championships

Graeme Dott (GETTY IMAGES)

Graeme Dott produced an electric performance today in his World Snooker Championship match with Shaun Murphy - so much so he was affected by repeated static shocks from the table.

The former Crucible champion was trailing 6-2 after the first session but a reverse of that score levelled the match at 8-8 ahead of tonight's climax.

As Dott made his comeback in the second session, he complained of repeated static shocks from the table. The problem led to an early interval so that tournament officials in Sheffield could look to address the issue.

While Murphy appeared untroubled by the problem, Dott was affected on several occasions, particularly when he had to play shots from the edge of the table.

In a bid to stop the shocks, the carpet of the stage floor was sprayed with water.

Ken Doherty, the 1997 world champion, said on BBC2: "I've never seen this. It's quite strange only Graeme Dott is getting the static from the table.

"I don't know whether it's his shoes but they're going to have a break and see if they can do something about the carpet.

"I've never seen this at the Crucible. Maybe he has to change his shoes."

Watch Dott affected by the shocks (go to 4.34)...