Plane problem forces Milkins out of season curtain-raiser

THE new snooker season got off to a chaotic start for Gloucester’s Rob Milkins as he was forced to pull out of the Riga Masters after being left stranded when his flight to Latvia was cancelled.

Milkins was due to face defending champion Neil Robertson in a heldover qualifying match for the first ranking event of the new season on Friday.

But Robertson and Milkins were among a number of players left stranded at Luton airport after their flight was cancelled.

They were due to depart at 6pm last Thursday for their game at 9am local time on Friday, but problems on the runway and thunderstorms scuppered their plans.

It meant that Ben Woollaston was given a walkover as World Snooker said it would have been “impossible” to reschedule all of the affected matches given the “number of players affected” and “short notice”.

“It wasn’t until the tournament was well under way that we were able to contact all of the affected players to confirm that

they intended to withdraw,” it added. “It’s an unfortunate situation but beyond our control.”

Jack Lisowski opened his campaign against Latvian amateur Rodin Judin and the Churchdown man had breaks of 119 and 78 in a 4-1 success.

Lisowski then saw off Daniel Wells 4-2, having the highest break of the tournament, a 145, in the process, along with a 60 and a 55 to reach the last 16.

But there he was edged out 4-3 by Mark Joyce, meaning that all eight quarter-finalists were ranked outside the world’s top 20.

World number 11 Lisowski fell behind as Joyce built a 3-1 lead with a top break of 112, his opponent’s only response coming with a run of 140 in frame two.

Lisowski clawed his way back to 3-3 and had first chance in the deciding frame, but only made 27 and Joyce replied with 62 which proved enough.

Joyce went on to reach the final, but lost 5-2 to Chinese teenager Yan Bingtao, his first ranking title success.