Ronnie O'Sullivan caused a slight delay to his latest match after the snooker star was caught without any shoes on.
The Rocket has been battling a foot problem and he was clearly troubled with the issue in his World Open qualifier against Alfie Burden.
O'Sullivan beat Burden 5-3 on Tuesday to qualify for the World Open, which will take place in China in March.
It was his first match since winning the World Grand Prix in Leicester on Sunday, his second tournament victory in the space of seven days.
Ronnie O'Sullivan took his shoes off during Tuesday's win over Alfie Burden
Eurosport
O'Sullivan intends to take a break from competing as he says he is not enjoying playing despite his recent success.
But he may also want to give his feet a break as he continues to struggle with an ongoing fitness issue.
O'Sullivan revealed last November that he has plantar fasciitis, an injury which affects his heel.
He has been wearing chunky trainers in recent months in an attempt to help ease the problem
But it was clearly troubling him during Tuesday's match against Burden.
Leading 2-1 at the time, O'Sullivan was filmed at his seat taking his shoes off.
The 48-year-old sat with just his socks on for a few minutes while Burden broke.
Burden then missed the last red on the table but O'Sullivan was not ready to step up.
He quickly realised he had to put his shoes back on and did so, delaying the match for a number of seconds.
O'Sullivan was fine to carry on and won the best-of-nine frame match to secure his spot in March's tournament.
But the footage proved he is still being hampered by the foot injury.
Six-time World Champion Steve Davis revealed at the Masters earlier this month that O'Sullivan had been permitted to wear trainers.
Davis said on commentary: "He's been struggling with some kind of foot injury so has been given permission to wear training shoes."
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Ronnie O'Sullivan caused a slight delay to his match after taking off his shoes
Eurosport
Speaking at the same tournament, O'Sullivan revealed the extent of the problem.
He said: "I've got a bad foot so I'm just trying to keep these on so my feet don't hurt. They get a bit sore otherwise.
"They're alright in these trainers but when I wore my shoes the other day, I could barely walk. It's quite painful yeah."
O'Sullivan has won the first two Triple Crown events of the season.
It was at the UK Championship last November that fans first noticed his footwear was different.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has been wearing trainers in recent months due to a foot problem
Getty
O'Sullivan told Eurosport: "I've got plantar fasciitis, which is, the easiest way to explain it is it's like a bruise on your heel.
"So when you go to put your foot down, it's really sore. Leather-soled shoes just absolutely batter my feet to pieces.
"I've had to resort to getting some really big old soles on them, just to sort of give my foot a rest, basically."
