9-ball rule question about purposefully shooting OB(s) off the table

[Oikawa]

I was playing a match, had my opponent on 1 foul, and played a lock-up safety with no realistic path to hit the next ball, so he would be looking at an almost certain 2 fouls after his shot.

There were 8 balls left on the table. Instead of trying to hit the OB, or even doing a "normal" purposeful foul by moving other balls around, my opponent did something I've never seen done before; he elevated his cue, and shot into a few close-by object balls very hard, causing 2 object balls (and the CB) to fly off the table. Balls flying off the table are treated as pocketed balls, so I would get back on the table with a BIH, but with 6 balls left instead of 8, making the three-fouling attempt somewhat harder.

The run-out was somewhat tricky, so a three-foul attempt was relevant. Had those two balls that flew off the table not been "pocketed" like that, it would've been easier to win the frame with three fouls (more traffic = easier ways of getting a difficult lock-up safety). I'm not 100% convinced what he did was the optimal play there, but it certainly was creative and something I've never seen happen before.

My question is, is this allowed in most rulesets? Would it fall under bad sportsmanship, or some other rule, to purposefully have balls flying around the pool hall like that?

 

[Bob Jewett]

Knocking balls onto the floor is a foul. Whether doing that intentionally is unsportsmanlike is the question. At one pocket it has been an absolutely standard play for decades but some tournaments now outlaw it.

At snooker sending a couple of reds onto the floor is a known technique to reduce your opponent's chance to score since each red is a possible 8 points but I've never seen it done.

 

[Willowbrook Wolfy]

It could be seen as unsportsmanlike, but he could always say he was just trying to make it harder for you to three foul so he slammed those balls, hoping that the layout wouldn’t be good for you after two().….. i think in APA knocking balls off the table isn’t a foul as long as you hit the correct ball first and the cb stays on the table…..

 

[iusedtoberich]

Did he strike the CB with the cue-stick? If so, it's a legal strategy and creative IMO.

If he struck the OB with the cue-stick, then that's unsportsmanlike conduct, should be a loss of game. I had a very weak player try that on me once, for the same reason, to avoid a 3 foul. I stopped him before he shot and said to him: "you can't do that".

 

[Oikawa]

Did he strike the CB with the cue-stick? If so, it's a legal strategy and creative IMO.

If he struck the OB with the cue-stick, then that's unsportsmanlike conduct, should be a loss of game. I had a very weak player try that on me once, for the same reason, to avoid a 3 foul. I stopped him before he shot and said to him: "you can't do that".

Yes, he hit the CB with the cue properly. It was just at break speed with moderate elevation, which pretty much guarantees some balls to fly off.