‘I haven’t practised for a long time’ – Hong Kong snooker star Marco Fu urges the government to reopen clubs
- The world No 50 says he hasn’t played a game for months because of the pandemic lockdown on facilities
- The Hong Kong star says snooker clubs are relatively safe in the city as tables are set far apart
Hong Kong’s top player Marco Fu Ka-chun has urged the government to reopen snooker establishments (clubs) amid the ease of the pandemic situation.
On Monday, only nine cases of Covid-19 positive cases were recorded, the first time in a week that the number of infections were back to single digits. On August 24, nine new cases were reported and that was the first time since early July that the daily tally had fallen to single digits, from triple and double-figures.
For this reason, the former world snooker championship semi-finalist wants the government to consider reopening snooker clubs, so that players can return to much-needed practice.
“I haven’t practised for a long time as snooker clubs have been closed under the pandemic,” said the world number 50, who returned to Hong Kong in February after losing to China’s Ding Junhui in the Welsh Open first round.
“Coupled with the last wave of the coronavirus pandemic, I have not played a game for almost three months.
“Snooker clubs are relatively safe in Hong Kong as the tables are set far apart from each other. Also the number of players involved in each table is very limited and there is little body contact among the players. So far, no cases have been found in snooker clubs since the outbreak of the virus.”
Fu, who also opted out of last month’s World Championship in Sheffield, England due to Covid-19, said with safety measures being relaxed in cinemas, beauty parlours and some outdoor sports premises, the decision to close snooker clubs by the government has created a negative effect on the sport.
In July when Hong Kong began experiencing a third wave of the pandemic, the government announced that public premises, including places of amusement, were required to suspend operations.
Billiard establishments [clubs], public bowling alleys and public skating rinks all come under the places of amusement licence and have been closed for more than a month.
Earlier this month, Wan Po-yee, who represents one of Hong Kong’s biggest snooker clubs, said they had already lost 30 per cent of their business as a result of the shutdown.
So far they have only received HK$100,000 from the government, which she said was not enough.
“We have to pay rent and many other operating expenses, such as electricity and management fees. And now we have to close again and the entire business is now facing a big financial burden,” she said.
Another snooker club investor said they had provided their facilities for the development of many Hong Kong young snooker players and if they had to close venues due to financial difficulties, it would affect the sport in future.
Hong Kong’s snooker queen Ng On-yee started her career playing in local snooker clubs before joining the world’s elite ranks.
