Have WSF made a big mistake?

I feel the tournament shouldn't have gone ahead but that's not what I wanted to mention in this topic. From what I undestand the government has introduced new Covid-19 rules about people at weddings. Less than thirty people are allowed.

So why couldn't the theatre have thirty people in attendance. Fifteen on either side for both tables. That way you get a few claps, a few "ooohs" when shots are missed.

Perhaps Hearn missed a trick there? Would seem a logical way to get some tiny atmosphere into the place. Thirty people isn't a lot. Spaced out over the theatre they'd be almost zero risk of infection. To make it even easier, the thirty people could be people employed with the WSF. Not regular fans, but people inside the snooker industry.

That would sound even weirder than no crowd. It would sound like some lower-tier Chinese event.

Iranu wrote:That would sound even weirder than no crowd. It would sound like some lower-tier Chinese event.

Or any Chinese event that Ronnie isn’t in.

ROS147 wrote:

Iranu wrote:That would sound even weirder than no crowd. It would sound like some lower-tier Chinese event.

Or any Chinese event that Ronnie isn’t in.

Not at all, There have been many great tournaments in China over the years without Ronnie.

Juddernaut88 wrote:

ROS147 wrote:

Iranu wrote:That would sound even weirder than no crowd. It would sound like some lower-tier Chinese event.

Or any Chinese event that Ronnie isn’t in.

Not at all, There have been many great tournaments in China over the years without Ronnie.

But also with no crowds.

Iranu,

Yeah but you'd get some applause. Having no-one at all looks weird and the silence is really apparent. I did read that there is taped applause but I saw the Roberton/Liang match on BBC tv and when a frame was won I didn't hear any taped applause.

I accept thirty people is kinda lame but if it's not breaching the current Covid rules it might be doable. I saw a tennis match on Freeview and there were a few people near the court. It was a tiny amount but they did clap. Perhaps Hearn should contact the government and see if he can bring a bare minimum of people into the theatre. If thirty people can attend a wedding then I reckon thirty people can watch snooker. :)

snooker_loopy wrote:Iranu,

Yeah but you'd get some applause. Having no-one at all looks weird and the silence is really apparent. I did read that there is taped applause but I saw the Roberton/Liang match on BBC tv and when a frame was won I didn't hear any taped applause.

I accept thirty people is kinda lame but if it's not breaching the current Covid rules it might be doable. I saw a tennis match on Freeview and there were a few people near the court. It was a tiny amount but they did clap. Perhaps Hearn should contact the government and see if he can bring a bare minimum of people into the theatre. If thirty people can attend a wedding then I reckon thirty people can watch snooker. :)

Yes, that was what I thought would be sensible. The 30 people would probably have been corporates, sponsors and officials. 300 was a big risk, that they didn't really need to take.

The rule was no spectators at sporting events. Weddings have nothing to do with this. There are probably 20+ people already there running the thing, and the players. So no - Bazza hasn't missed a trick.

It's Boris Johnson's decision. Not World Snooker's.

When they announced an audience, I thought it would be

Friends & family of the players
Employees of the Crucible & World Snooker
Officials & administrators of the event when not required to work
Players themselves, if not playing that session
And maybe a few complementaries given to key workers

Probably 50ish people per table per session, with plenty of room between them, and perspex screens up between them & the play

Not 3-400 unmasked, and not temperature tested on arrival; that was always asking for trouble and likely to end in disaster.

I still don’t see why that can’t be implemented but am hoping it will be by the time it switches to one table.

SnookerEd25 wrote:When they announced an audience, I thought it would be

Friends & family of the players
Employees of the Crucible & World Snooker
Officials & administrators of the event when not required to work
Players themselves, if not playing that session
And maybe a few complementaries given to key workers

Probably 50ish people per table per session, with plenty of room between them, and perspex screens up between them & the play

Not 3-400 unmasked, and not temperature tested on arrival; that was always asking for trouble and likely to end in disaster.

I still don’t see why that can’t be implemented but am hoping it will be by the time it switches to one table.

The new rules that came in on Friday last for 2 weeks so the tournament will almost be over before there's a chance of changes.

dale or swail wrote:

SnookerEd25 wrote:When they announced an audience, I thought it would be

Friends & family of the players
Employees of the Crucible & World Snooker
Officials & administrators of the event when not required to work
Players themselves, if not playing that session
And maybe a few complementaries given to key workers

Probably 50ish people per table per session, with plenty of room between them, and perspex screens up between them & the play

Not 3-400 unmasked, and not temperature tested on arrival; that was always asking for trouble and likely to end in disaster.

I still don’t see why that can’t be implemented but am hoping it will be by the time it switches to one table.

The new rules that came in on Friday last for 2 weeks so the tournament will almost be over before there's a chance of changes.

Dale Or Swail.

Long time no see.

Wildey wrote:

Iranu wrote:That would sound even weirder than no crowd. It would sound like some lower-tier Chinese event.

Yea but isnt no clap with a brilliant pot more weird.


Let's be honest if there's no proper crowd in here everything is weird more than any other sport in the World apart from Maybe Darts a crowd is part of the action.

Smatterings of applause always sound stupid to me, when there’s only a dozen people in the Chinese crowds for example.

Wildey wrote:

Iranu wrote:That would sound even weirder than no crowd. It would sound like some lower-tier Chinese event.

Yea but isnt no clap with a brilliant pot more weird.


Let's be honest if there's no proper crowd in here everything is weird more than any other sport in the World apart from Maybe Darts a crowd is part of the action.

They should have tried all this out at the Marshall Arena. That's what the Covid Classic was for...

I think the only times the CL and TC really felt strange with no crowd were towards the end of the finals and the trophy presentation.

Maybe if there are no crowds allowed by the final, they can do the presentation in the Winter Gardens and set up a socially distanced crowd there?

Wildey wrote:

Iranu wrote:I think the only times the CL and TC really felt strange with no crowd were towards the end of the finals and the trophy presentation.

Maybe if there are no crowds allowed by the final, they can do the presentation in the Winter Gardens and set up a socially distanced crowd there?

You know what that's not a bad shout in fact.

Well you’ve got the big name contacts, tell Hendry on Twitter to make the suggestion to Barry

The lack of clapping really doesn't bother me.

At football, or something where there's usually a lot of noise it would be missing more. At snooker, it doesn't.

Wildey wrote:

Iranu wrote:I think the only times the CL and TC really felt strange with no crowd were towards the end of the finals and the trophy presentation.

Maybe if there are no crowds allowed by the final, they can do the presentation in the Winter Gardens and set up a socially distanced crowd there?

You know what that's not a bad shout in fact.

Only if Captain Medal is there.

Iranu wrote:I think the only times the CL and TC really felt strange with no crowd were towards the end of the finals and the trophy presentation.

Maybe if there are no crowds allowed by the final, they can do the presentation in the Winter Gardens and set up a socially distanced crowd there?

I would add that it also seemed weird at the end of matches. The lack of handshake really made the end of a match not feel all that special. They're doing the elbow thing now, which although odd is much better than nothing.

I reckon you can argue the decision to have no crowd makes no sense.

The government and health authorities decided people can visit restaurants and pubs; be less than six foot in proximity. So if we assume a pub or restaurant has near full capacity or let's say 3/4 full that could be fifty people?

Are fifty people spread out in the Crucible at more risk than people in a pub? I doubt it.

If three hundred people is too much of a risk, fair enough, but if the government allows pubs and restaurants to have people it seems unfair and hypocritical not to allow fifty or so fans into the Crucible. It's the inconsistency that fuels conspiracy type theories around coronavirus. The notion the virus has been exaggerated by the media. The NHS might have exaggerated the risk to prevent people going to hospital with non coronavirus conditions. This was the main reason for the lockdown at the end of March. The government considered or wanted a 'herd immunity' approach to coronavirus but the NHS convinced the government to go for full lockdown to prevent the NHS from too many coronavirus cases. The bitter twist is the care home sector took the brunt of coronavirus cases.

Given we can go to pubs and restaurants and forgo much or any social distancing I can't see how the no crowd policy at the Crucible can be justified.

The bottom line is the coronavirus doesn't pick and choose its location. You can still get coronavirus at pubs and restaurants. I fail to see a cogent reason to justify no crowd at the Crucible when you can walk across the street from the theatre and visit a pub!

The real question, is why are you allowed in pubs, to be fair.

It's still dangerous.