BBC under fire over World Snooker Championship coverage and fans say 'too little too late'

The BBC has been slapped with complaints over its World Snooker Championship coverage after fans took issue with the sudden and abrupt nature of it ending. BBC viewers hit out at the broadcaster following Mark Williams' loss to Si Jiahui.

Williams's first-round match with 21-year-old Si went the distance on Tuesday with the Chinese star coming out on top - but coverage cutaway almost immediately after the match was finished. One typed : "F***ing BBC has got to it's allotted time so we don't get any player interviews.

"Useless!" Taking to Twitter/X, a second raged: "I know there was a time factor with BBC going off but both BBC and Eurosport--or World Snooker--really ought to pay for professional interpreters." Another said: "Is there a way to see the post match interviews? Come on @WeAreWST.

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"You have to do better, you have a YouTube channel. Use it ffs. Too little too late. #WorldSnookerChampionship" When asked whether he will be back next year, Williams said: “Who knows? I’ll be 50 years of age next year. I looked around and loved every minute of it. Whether or not I’ll be back again, I don’t know.

“I’m not considering my future really, just it’s a tough game. You keep getting back to these venues and it’s hard. Most of the ones for a while now, you’ve just got to treat it as if you’re not going to get back here. I’m not retiring, just treating every one as your last one. Fingers crossed you’ll see me playing next year, who knows?”

Si said: “The first half of the match was quite nip and tuck, neither of us had brilliant form. But later on he gave me a lot more chances to let me have that lead at 8-5. My opponent was really, really accurate towards the end so it went all the way to the deciding frame. I always thought: ‘I am the challenger who’s trying to take him down,’ so I didn’t really feel the pressure and that’s how I won it.”