Fans pushed crazy by BBC snooker protection claiming broadcaster makes desk look sq.
Viewers watching The Masters at London’s famous Ally Pally claim rectangular green baize looks like it has four sides that are the same size – more like a square
The table at the Masters has got everyone talking – from players including Mark Allen to the fans watching on telly(Image: Getty Images)
Fans are being driven snooker loopy by the BBC’s coverage of their favourite sport – claiming its camera angles make the table look square.
Viewers tuning into The Masters at London’s famous Ally Pally claim the rectangular green baize has been compressed to make it look like it has four sides of equal length.
Snooker lovers moaned it looked ‘weird’ and was ruining their enjoyment of the tournament which has already been hit by a string of controversies over the table players are using.
Fed up fans have blitzed social media sites with complaints.
Broadcast news site The TV Room posted a photo of the playing surface on X with the message: “Checking in on the BBC’s coverage of the Masters Snooker…their main shot makes a rectangular table look square.”
One fan wrote: “Plenty of discussion on Reddit about the look of the table during Masters TV coverage.
“There are times when I think complaints about camera angles are a bit far fetched but the table here looks square. It’s not really a proper representation of snooker is it?”
Another tweeted: “The table looks weird. Why does the table look weird? Noooo.”
One more messaged: “Just turned the coverage on and the camera angle was the first thing I noticed. Makes the table look so weird.”
An American fan said: “People who are just watching snooker for the first time and have never seen a full sized table before will think snooker is played on a square table.”
Another viewer said: “It is very square right enough and distorted as the players are like giants next to the table in some views but doesn’t bother me as I’d watch snooker played on a kitchen table never mind a star table. I’d prefer it the other way though so it isn’t square.”
One amateur cameraman said it was because the overhead camera used to film the action was ‘too low’ in the Ally Pally while it was ‘perfect’ at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield where the world championship is held.
They tweeted: “It’s always been that way at the Masters. Whatever the venue (Wembley or Ally Pally) the overhead camera is hung too low. Crucible is usually perfect.”
One fan simply messaged: “I like it.”
The BBC had not responded to a request for comment.
It is not the first gripe over the standard of the table at the tournament.
Former world champions Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis criticised it during Xiao Guodong’s first-round victory over Mark Selby on Sunday.
The pair said balls appeared to be drifting off line and clinging to cushions before dropping into corner pockets.
Davis said: “There’s something wrong with the table. It happened this afternoon. The balls are hugging the rail.
“The top slates need levelling up. The table fitters need to go out and check the level of the top slates.
“If those balls are hugging that top rail then it’s going to make the game incredibly easy to make big breaks. It’s also wrong that a ball should go in that easily. This looks like it’s not level.”
Mark Allen then reported to officials that the balls were ‘drifting’ during his victory over Mark Williams.
He said: “It’s a difficult job the fitters have got and I’ve got in enough trouble over the years calling them out on stuff.
“The one thing I noticed from today’s match was it was drifting a bit from green to yellow across that way of the table.”
Organisers World Snooker said: “The table is checked before, during and after every match as is standard at any event.
“We strive to provide the best possible playing conditions and our team of expert table fitters do a fantastic job.”
