GENERAL UPDATE AS OF SEPTEMBER 2020: Snooker tournaments are currently being played without an audience. They are still being televised on BBC and Eurosport. It is possible to purchase a limited number of tickets for some future tournaments, including the 2020 UK Championship, The 2021 Masters Tournament and the 2021 World Championship subject to any conditions and limitations that may be in place due to Covid-19 at the time of the tournament.
(The following was written on April 27, 2020, and is no longer up to date) In recent weeks, most major and even minor sports events have been cancelled across the globe due to the current outbreak of Coronavirus / Covid19. This also applies to the world of snooker, although some tournaments have actually been played. Continue reading this article for an overview of how Coronavirus affects snooker.
Status per April 27, 2020
As of April 27, 2020, the Coral Tour Championship which should have been played in late March in the Welsh seaside resort of Llandudno, has been postponed until this summer. It will instead be played from July 21 to 26. Tickets will be transferred automatically to the rescheduled dates, or they can be refunded by contacting the Venue Cymru box office.
In contrast, the 2020 European Snooker Championships for amateurs took place as planned in the Portuguese seaside town of Albufeira. This happened despite heavy criticism from players and commentators, and in total ignorance of the fact that Portugal closed its borders partially on Tuesday, March 17. On March 18, a state of emergency was declared. The editor of the European Billiards and Snooker Association website seemed to be blissfully unaware of these facts, and they wrote about the championship as if the outside world did not exist.
Returning to events organised by WST, the one-day Challenge Tour Play-off for one of the coveted two-year cards for the World Snooker Tour was scheduled to be played on March 29 in Clacton on Sea. It has now been postponed until further notice.
And then there is the question on everybody’s mind: What will happen to the 2020 Betfred World Championship? Well, the qualifiers were scheduled to be played from April 8 to 15, with the main tournament taking place in Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre from April 18 to May 4. On March 20, World Snooker announced that the 2020 Snooker World Championship will be postponed until July or August. Prior to this, it also emerged that Sheffield Theatres (including the Crucible) has cancelled all performances until at least April 5. Considering the current development and spread of the Coronavirus, this seems like the proper decision. Even if played with closed doors, playing the tournament would expose players, refs, other officials and technicians to the coronavirus, and it would probably also be in violation of government guidelines. The tournament has now been rescheduled to take place from July 31 to August 16 with the qualifiers being played at some point before that time. As there is no way telling how to Covid19 outbreak will develop in the coming months, World Snooker has also said that it is possible that the tournament will be played with a reduced crowd, with no crowd, and that it may even be postponed even further if conditions are not alright at the of July.
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