A sportsman has been dealt an unlucky blow while competing in a nine-ball pool tournament.
On Saturday, two-time World Pool Masters winner David Alcaide came up against United States star Shane Wolford in London.
Ahead of winning the match and helping Europe claim their fourth consecutive Mosconi Cup, the 44-year-old left the crowd in wonder after hitting a ‘one-in-ten-million shot’.
With three balls left on the table, including the black, the Spaniard attempted to hit a shot into the middle of a corner pocket.
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Amazingly, the ball seemed to hit the pocket before bouncing straight back out.
As a result, the commentator seemed to be in shock before he recounted exactly how the fluke had happened to Sky Sports viewers.
"It came straight out of the pocket,” he said. “It actually seems to start going below ground and then pops its head back up again.
“That is absolutely incredible. You might see that once in ten million shots, if even that.”
Viewers of Alcaide’s winning game have also taken to social media to express their surprise over the shot, while others tried to explain the phenomenon.
One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote: “Looks like there's a red in the pocket.”
A second said: “All these people saying there’s balls jammed in the pocket have never watched the sport
“Well it did go in. A freak I know but he's potted that ball,” claimed another.
A fourth commented: “How unlucky can a man get?? What was that!!! David Alcaide can't believe it, we can't either.”
Despite the freak ball, Alcaide helped Team Europe to beat Team USA 11-3 to keep the Mosconi Cup title and to take an overall series lead of 16-13 with just one tie.
Unfortunately, the Spanish star’s strange display isn’t the only bad luck we’ve heard of in sports recently.
Last month, it was announced that Olympic ice hockey star Sanni Hakala had suffered a severe neck injury after colliding head-first with a goal post.
The two-time bronze medalist was playing with HV71 in a Swedish Women's Hockey League game against Djurgårdens when the incident occurred.
After undergoing surgery, it has been revealed that Hakala is now paralysed from the chest down, and has restricted movement in her arms and hands.
Speaking about the freak accident, the athlete took to Instagram and wrote: “It is still hard to understand what has happened, that the crash into the goal post was as serious as it was, that the consequences have become so big.
“Not only that I am forced to stop playing hockey, something that has been a big part of my life for many years, but that I may be forced to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.”
She added that she is now facing a ‘long period of rehabilitation’ and that she will be focusing ‘all her energy’ to recover ‘as well as possible’.
“This situation obviously sucks, but I’m not scared to take it on. I don’t know what I’m going to do next, but I know it will be f**king awesome,” she added.
Topics: Sport, World News, London, Social Media, Twitter
Ella Scott