IF you ever visit Aldershot Snooker Club and wonder why there is a hole in one of the walls, then wonder no more.

English Association of Snooker and Billiards director Dave Joyce considers himself lucky to have escaped with his life after an incident many years ago while officiating at a match there.

The club is a converted hotel. All the bedrooms were left as they were, with individual doors, and a snooker table was placed in each.

Dave, now a top referees’ examiner, was standing by a connecting wall while one of the players was getting more and more frustrated by a run of bad luck. After going in-off he picked up a ball and threw it with such force that it imbedded itself in the wall, missing Dave’s head by inches.

The hole was still visible when my contact visited the club last year.

Dave said it was the worst incident he had ever seen at a snooker match.

The player was disqualified for ungentlemanly conduct.