Kyren Wilson sparked outrage after appearing to throw his cue towards a stunned referee before admitting he lost his composure in a dramatic comeback win

Former world snooker champion Kyren Wilson has sparked a furious backlash after appearing to throw his cue across the table during his International Championship clash with Liam Highfield in China.

The incident occurred during Sunday's second-round encounter in Nanjing, with Wilson seemingly losing his cool after Highfield moved into a 4-3 lead.

As the referee was collecting the balls at the end of the seventh frame, Wilson appeared to launch his cue across the table, sending it rolling towards the official, who looked stunned by what had just happened.

Footage of the moment quickly circulated on social media, with snooker fans calling out the 2024 world champion for his behaviour.

The clip was shared by snooker account SnookerF on X, alongside the caption: "Classic Kyren Wilson behaviour..."

One furious viewer responded: "Disgusting. What's the point?"

Another added: "Ref should have chucked it back at him," while a third simply wrote: "A terrible look."

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However, not everyone was quite so critical of the Englishman, with some suggesting his apparent frustration had simply boiled over during a difficult encounter.

"Getting frustrated with his performance maybe?" one viewer wrote.

"Prefer the players to show some emotion instead of being robots tbf but also, would it be an issue if it was Ronnie that did it? Kyren gets some unwarranted heat in my opinion and I'm by no means his biggest fan."

Another suggested: "Looks like he didn't agree to concede the frame is my guess."

Wilson, who won the Northern Ireland Open just last weekend, was facing a battle to keep his hopes of another title alive against Highfield.

The 34-year-old captured the Alex Higgins Trophy for the second time in Belfast last Sunday, thrashing Jak Jones 9-2 in the final to secure the 11th ranking title of his career.

However, he found life considerably tougher against Highfield, who subsequently extended his advantage to 5-3, leaving Wilson needing to win three consecutive frames to avoid an early exit.

The former world champion responded emphatically, producing breaks of 51, 127 and 75 to complete a dramatic 6-5 comeback victory and book his place in the next round.

And speaking afterwards, Wilson admitted he had lost his composure during the encounter, but insisted his anger had ultimately helped fuel his remarkable fightback.

"He played very strongly today. I think every frame had a high break. I find Liam very difficult to play against. I think our styles clash and I play a lot faster. Liam is a little bit more methodical. I got a bit angry at 5-3 and I finished strongly," said Wilson.

"It took eight frames to keep calm, in the ninth I got a bit angry and lost my composure, but it fired me up. Before that I missed one or two balls but afterwards I played well."

Wilson's comments came after a fiery contest in which his apparent show of frustration had already attracted considerable criticism online.

Despite the controversy, he now moves a step closer to another ranking title, with the defending Masters champion also revealing he has his sights firmly set on completing snooker's prestigious Triple Crown later this month.

Having already won the World Championship and Masters, the UK Championship remains the one major title missing from his collection.

"I want to win the UK Championship," Wilson added. "It is the tournament that is missing from my CV. It would be brilliant to complete the Triple Crown, but there are so many good players so it will be difficult."

One fan appeared to see the funny side of the controversy after Wilson's comeback triumph, writing: "It worked, he won didn't he. Haha."