‘THE RESTRICTIONS ARE GETTING DAFT. WE NEED SOME FORM OF NORMALITY’
Will
LIAM HIGHFIELD is calling on the Government to ease lockdown restrictions and allow fans back into snooker halls and sports venues.
The Stoke-based potter crashed out of the English Open in Milton Keynes yesterday as he lost his second-round match 4-1 against Welsh player Jamie Clarke.
The maiden Home Nations event of the season is being held behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena as the globetrotting snooker circuit continues to adapt to the Covid-19 restrictions.
Highfield, the current world number 63, is fed up of lockdown and reckons it’s high time for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to restore normality in both sport and beyond.
“My opinion is that we should just go for it now,” admitted the 29-yearold.
“The restrictions are just getting daft and there are too many contradictions. But I get that health does come first, and if that’s the way they see it that’s up to them.
“It’s been too long - we just need some normality back now, but they seem to want to control us in some way, I think.
“I’m running around five miles and I’ve been playing tennis quite a lot - I’d always played a bit when I was a kid and snooker took over, but I play against my mate.
“I’ve been on the tennis court two or three hours a day - I love it. I watched a bit of the French Open but with no crowd, I just find sport hard to watch.
“They’re trying to do their best putting the audios in, but it’s about the atmosphere, isn’t it?”
The 2017 Indian Open quarterfinalist was on the receiving end of an early Clarke onslaught at the Marshall Arena, as impressive breaks of 99 and 135 fired him into a 2-0 lead.
Highfield hit back with visits of 66 and 56 in frame three, but a further 98 from the world number 101 helped dump the man from the Potteries out.
Highfield, who was set to run the Liverpool Marathon in May before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, says he failed to get the rub of the green at the first Home Nations event of the season, but remains in buoyant spirits ahead of a busy period of the season.
“I was on the back foot from the off - I got a bit unlucky and that reinstated his dominance but I’m all good,” he added.
“It’s on to the next one and I’ll probably just chill out for a few weeks,
“I’ll probably have the rest of the week off and work hard for the German Masters qualifying.
“But hopefully we don’t get locked down, so I can practice - if we do I’ll probably just get on the running!”
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