BBC snooker commentators left in awkward silence after Zhao Xintong comment

commentator Dennis Taylor did not appear to be too happy with his colleague response as the pair discussed in the final. The Chinese potter peered over a red ball en route to taking a 16-8 lead over , when his impact on the worldwide game was discussed.

Taylor pointed out that many viewers outside of the UK may not be too familiar with Zhao, who was playing as an amateur having . Murphy did not necessarily agree with the veteran broadcaster's assessment, leading the 1985 world champion to sharply hit back.

"A lot of friends from different parts of the world have been watching these World Championships Shaun and they have never seen this player (Zhao) play and they are absolutely amazed at how good he is," Taylor said as Zhao looked to move two frames from the title.

But Murphy replied: "You must be fairly new to the game then Dennis, because we are watching a former here..."

Then the air appeared to turn blue as Taylor, seemingly unimpressed with Murphy's view on the matter, hit back: "They don't live in the UK Shaun, that's what I was saying."

The pair sat through a long and awkward period of silence before quickly turning attention back to the match at hand.

It took 34 uncomfortable seconds before another word was spoken on commentary, as Murphy marvelled at Zhao sinking a mid-range red while nudging another out to free up the black ball.

"What a great shot," Murphy continued. "Those red balls have been causing problems by the black for most of this frame."

Earlier in the frame, Williams had missed a simple red when on 26 to allow Zhao back in, a common theme throughout the third session. He had a big shake of the head when rattling the jaw before his opponent stepped up with a frame-winning break of 67.

Zhao then went on to take the next frame, the final of the afternoon, to .

There are possibly 10 more frames to play, but the two-time ranking event winner needs to win just one more to become China's only world champion - and the third qualifier to do so since the tournament moved to Sheffield.