MARK SELBY's cheeky joke left spectators howling during his Welsh Open clash with Luca Brecel.

Selby and Brecel were facing one another in the Welsh Open semi-final on Saturday.

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The 41-year-old managed to win the opening frame 131-0.

However, after just one frame the game was delayed after Brecel was forced to take a break.

The Belgian was complaining of a headache.

After leaving the table he was given 15 minutes to recover before he would be punished or be forced to forfeit.

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The 29-year-old took some painkillers during the break.

Selby then started the next frame but had a poor break.

He then cheekily asked the referee for a timeout of his own, prompting laughter from the crowd.

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Brecel eventually went on to win the frame 68-28.

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Selby returned fire by winning frame three before Brecel found his groove to win frames four and five, with Selby then levelling the score again by winning frame six in the best of 11 match.

Brecel is the last star in the Welsh Open who could land a bonus prize of £150,000 for the Home Nations.

This is because he has earned the most cumulative prize money across all four Home Nations Series events this season - the English Open, the Northern Ireland Open, the Scottish Open and the Welsh Open.

Neil Robertson is currently on course to win the bonus prize after landing £124,000 in prize money from the Home Nations events.

But if Brecel wins the £100,000 prize for the Welsh Open he will overtake Robertson by virtue of countback, with the most recent result from the Series taking precedence.