A World Snooker Championship star has bemoaned the issue of phones going off during play – saying it doesn’t happen at the operas he attends.

Dominic Dale, 52, made a welcome return to playing action at the Crucible after qualifying for the tournament for the first time in a decade. His involvement at the tournament came to an early halt as he was demolished 10-1 by Kyren Wilson in the first round.

However, the Welshman – nicknamed the Spaceman – remains a fixture at tournament thanks to his commentary duties with Eurosport. He was calling the tense quarter-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stuart Bingham when, not for the first time in this year’s tournament, play was interrupted by a phone which hadn’t been switched to silent.

The incident left commentator Phil Yates and Dale frustrated. The former lamented: “Before each and every session, Rob Walker, the master of ceremonies, pleads with the crowd to turn their phones off or turn them to silent.”

Dale then added: “I don’t really understand why they go off every single session. I attend operas, ballets, I never hear a mobile phone going off. So why does it keep happening?”

In another match earlier in the tournament, play was interrupted by someone’s frog message tone. Meanwhile, on another compelling day at the Crucible, one of the tournament favourites, Judd Trump, crashed out following a 13-9 defeat to qualifier Jak Jones.

The 2019 champion offered no excuses after being lured into a war of attrition by his opponent, who is ranked second slowest of those who booked a place in this year’s tournament proper. Trump said: “I felt like I had a lot of chances and I didn’t take them. I had more than enough chances today to win, so I only have myself to blame.

“A lot of the frames were quite slow and I got bogged down. His pace definitely affected me, but that’s not his fault. I just needed to get in and clear up every time, and I didn’t do that.”