The BBC was forced to interrupt its live coverage of the World Snooker Championship on Friday evening after a power failure at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The technical issue occurred during the third frame of the semi-final between Mark Allen and Wu Yize, causing the broadcast to cut out at 19:51 BST.
Viewers on BBC Two were left watching a wildlife programme for 12 minutes while engineers worked to resolve the fault. The broadcaster issued an apology, stating: 'We are sorry for the break in this programme and are trying to correct the fault. Please stay with us we are experiencing some technical faults.' Coverage resumed on BBC iPlayer and TNT Sports shortly after, but problems on BBC Two persisted for a longer period.
When pictures were restored, presenter Hazel Irvine addressed the disruption, confirming that a power issue was to blame. She said: 'Welcome back to Sheffield and our apologies for the interruption to our evening at the Crucible in the second semi-final. We had a rather unexpected power issue. We lost power but Mark Allen did not, he took frame three to get his semi-final campaign underway.'
Despite the blackout, Allen maintained his composure and went on to win the third frame with a break of 91. He then claimed the fourth frame with a break of 76 to level the match. Former world champion Steve Davis praised Allen's focus, noting: 'It was obvious when the screens went blank in the room here that something happened... Mark Allen was aware something had happened and how good a performance to keep his standard up without getting confused by what was going on.'
The semi-final continues with Allen facing Yize, while John Higgins and Shaun Murphy contest the other semi-final for a place in Monday's final.
