SINGAPORE - While the rest of sporting Singapore rebooted on Friday (June 19) following the Covid-19 hiatus, the Republic's cue sports enthusiasts were left on the sidelines.

Commercial billiard and snooker halls are not permitted to reopen during Phase 2 for now, unlike other sports facilities such as stadiums, pools, sports halls, gyms, fitness studios and bowling alleys, many of which resumed business on Friday.

Cue sports enthusiasts who had been looking forward to playing again were surprised.

Civil servant Danny Tan, who used to visit pool houses at least once a week, said: "There are a few of us who really want to play but we couldn't because of the situation so we had been waiting for circuit breaker to end, hoping it would open.

"There are other places that have been allowed to reopen with social distancing measures in place, so I don't know why pool houses should be excluded. If they can plan it out with the appropriate spacing, it seems doable."

Billiard and snooker halls are regulated under the Public Entertainment Act and entertainment facilities such as theatres, cinemas and karaoke lounges have not been given the green light to reopen yet as the country eases out of the circuit breaker measures designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Cue sports saloons have been affected badly by the hiatus, with many having zero revenue since the circuit breaker measures kicked in on April 7, and those that The Straits Times spoke to expressed disappointment at not being able to reopen.

Although there has been no income in the last three months for King's Pool, the pool hall in Ang Mo Kio still has had to pay rent, which is in the five-figure range.

The saloon cut its full-time staff's pay by half since having to close and is considering no-pay leave from next month if it is not allowed to reopen.

Charlene Chai, marketing director of King's Pool, said: "When we were operating before Covid, our profit was bare minimum due to the high rental. Having to close for the past three months when there was zero revenue, was financial hardship."

Many were also baffled by how most sports facilities were given the nod to resume operations while billiard and snooker halls remained closed.

May Kwek, Aspire Cuesports events and marketing associate, said: "It's frustrating on our end because even bowling centres can open. Business has been hit by Covid because we can't provide online services."

To cope with the losses, Aspire Cuesports' management team volunteered to stop drawing their salaries for the last three months, but the rest of its staff have been paid.

Some like Lagoon Billiard Room were even preparing to reopen this week, with social distancing measures in place.

Founder Richard Soh said: "I was very disappointed that we couldn't open. Billiards is recognised as a national sport and Singapore players have won championships for billiards and a lot of players have been sent to the SEA Games."

On why commercial cue sports outlets have to remain shut, a Singapore Police Force spokesman said: "Commercial cue sports outlets (such as billiard saloons) are considered entertainment venues.

"The resumption of operations at entertainment venues will be more gradual, as the activities in these settings typically involve large numbers of people coming into close contact, often in enclosed spaces, and for prolonged periods of time, with the potential to spawn large clusters of Covid-19 infections."

It added that it is engaging billiard saloon operators on the possible safe management measures to be implemented for operations to resume safely.

Cuesports Singapore, the national governing body for cue sports, has submitted a safe return to sport template for clubs and their members to national sports agency Sport Singapore (SportSG).

President Christopher Chuah said: "Cuesports Singapore is working closely with SportSG in relation to the safe return of the sport generally. Hopefully, they will allow everyone to return to cue sports soon with adequate safe distancing measures put in place."

Some have urged the community to be patient.

Billiards world champion Peter Gilchrist said: "The Government knows best. It's going to be an extra few days or maybe weeks, but all we've got to do is to listen."

Additional reporting by Arvinash Ravindran