Kyren's late-night success after a day of confusion

Kyren Wilson was embroiled in a day of coronavirus confusion at the Scottish Open but battled through a late night clash against Simon Lichtenberg to book his place in the second round.

The Kettering player was one of dozens of stars whose first round match was postponed owing to a major delay on World Snooker Tour receiving Covid-19 test results.

Under WST rules since behind closed doors snooker begun after lockdown, all players must deliver a negative result before they are allowed to take to the table and compete at a tournament.

Monday morning’s scheduled matches took place on time but delays on receiving test results meant that many matches due to start at 1pm did not begin until after 6:30pm.

That meant many of the evening games begun well after their scheduled 7pm or 8pm start time, including Wilson’s who was still on the Buckinghamshire baize at 12:30am on Tuesday morning as he finally beat the German 4-1.

The world No.4 kept his composure to roll in breaks of 96, 80, 68 and 53 to down his minnow opponent and keep his hopes of a maiden Home Nations title in Milton Keynes alive.

The Scottish Open is the third Home Nations event of the season to be taking place at Milton Keynes’ Marshall Arena, as the snooker circuit continues to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A WST statement responded to the testing delays on Monday 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.”

Wilson, who reached this summer’s World Championship final and is bidding to improve on his quarter-final defeat against world No.1 Judd Trump at the UK Championship, will meet either Steven Hallworth or France’s Brian Ochoiski in the second round tomorrow (Wednesday).

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