Joe Perry allowed his frustrations to boil over during his defeat to Antoni Kowalski in qualifying for the Scottish Open. The 50-year-old and two-time ranking title winner slipped to a 4-3 loss at the hands of his Polish opponent on Tuesday.
With the score deadlocked at two frames each, tempers flared when Kowalski pulled off a brilliant cushion shot to take the lead. He successfully played the pink into the left middle pocket, with the ball hitting two cushions before rolling in.
Perry was clearly frustrated that Kowalski's shot went in and did not attempt to hide his anger as he watched from across the table. He was caught on camera throwing a vicious elbow into the advertising hoardings next to him as the ball rolled into the pocket.
The one-time Welsh Open winner also appeared to utter the word 'p***k' as Kowalski walked across the table and placed his cue down on the baize.
Kowalski had a furious moment of his own in the next frame, which Perry won to take the match to a decider. The 20-year-old was attempting to hit a simple red into the corner pocket but saw his effort blocked by the pink, which was sitting on the edge.
He reacted by clenching his fist in frustration and hitting his cue against the floor, making a loud noise which echoed throughout the arena as he stormed back to his chair.
Kowalski earned himself a tour card earlier this year, overcoming the likes of James Cahill and Simon Blackwell in Q-School. At the time, he made headlines , who he branded 'arrogant'.
In an interview with , he was asked for his thoughts on The Rocket and said: "I don't know how to say it, but he's pretty arrogant.
"No, he's a good guy, genius on the table for sure, he's one of the best players of all time. But he's not one of my favourites, if I put it like that."
Kowalski also had some harsh words about the sport as a whole, saying: "It might sound weird but I hate watching snooker. Whenever I'm watching snooker and someone messes something up I have the feeling of: 'Give me the cue, I'll show you how to do it'."
