Carrington furious after Covid chaos
STUART Carrington blasted a ‘ pathetic’ and ‘disgraceful’ day of coronavirus chaos at the Scottish Open after going down 4-0 against Barry Hawkins in the first round. The Grimsby player was thrashed by the world No.23 on a day where delays in receiving players’ Covid-19 test results meant matches were postponed for hours. Under World Snooker Tour rules since behind closed doors snooker begun in Milton Keynes after lockdown, all players must deliver a negative result before they are allowed to compete. Carrington, the world No.51, endured a 90-minute delay to his match at the Marshall Arena and slammed the ‘farcical’ set-up after crashing out early.
The 30-year-old fumed: “It was all over the place. I turned up at the venue at the normal time and was waiting around for an hour and a half extra.
“They were literally just saying to players: ‘hang about and wait around.’ Steven Hallworth was sat there until 11.30pm and didn’t even get on after being due on at 2pm. That is an absolute disgrace.
“He was sat there for ten hours in the players’ lounge not knowing what was happening, getting little bits of information and that he was going to be getting on at any time.
“Luckily for me, I was only sat there for an hour and a half waiting, but it’s an absolute farce, to be honest with you.
“They should have had a time limit, maybe if there were no results back after 9pm, to start at 9am and give everyone some chill time in their room. Hanging around until half 11 and you’re told you’re not going on to play is just pathetic. It was farcical. You can’t prepare for your match or anything – it was a bit of a joke.
“It came to match time and to be honest, I didn’t feel great out there at all, which was disappointing.”
A World Snooker Tour statement responded to the situation and said: “The safety of players and officials at events is of the highest priority for WST. We have implemented a strict Covid-19 testing regime which goes above and beyond government requirements. As a result, no player is allowed to compete until a negative test has been provided. “Testing for all players involved in Monday’s matches took place at least the day before. However, the late arrival of results caused a delay in the day’s matches from the 1pm session onwards. Matches have commenced at the earliest possible times after negative results were received.” 2013 World Championship finalist Hawkins knocked in breaks of 138 and 97 to leave Carrington, who reached the quarterfinals of the Scottish Open two years ago, slumped in his chair.
The Grimsby player will now take a few weeks away from the match table as he ramps up preparation for a more successful 2021.
Carrington is yet to reach the third round of a ranking event this season but reckons a break from the baize can fire him to success in the new year.
“I’ll just have a bit of chill time now and a couple of weeks off,” he added.
“I’ll have a couple of weeks off over Christmas and then get back on the practice table.”
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