While the rest of sporting Singapore rebooted yesterday following the Covid-19 hiatus, 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 centres.
Cue sports enthusiasts were surprised. Civil servant Danny Tan, who used to visit pool houses at least once a week, said: "If they can plan it out with the appropriate spacing, it seems doable."
Billiard and snooker parlours 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 as the country eases out of the circuit breaker measures.
Cue sports saloons have been badly affected, with many having zero revenue since circuit breaker measures kicked in on April 7, and those that The Straits Times spoke to were disappointed that they have not been 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 halved its full-time staff's pay since its closure and is considering no-pay leave from next month if it is not allowed to reopen.
Charlene Chai, marketing director of King's Pool, described the past three months as a period of "financial hardship".
Many were 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-19 because we can't provide online services."
To cope, Aspire Cuesports' management team stopped drawing their salaries for the last three months, but its staff have been paid.
Other like Lagoon Billiard Room were preparing to reopen this week.
On why commercial cue sports outlets have to remain shut, a Singapore Police Force spokesman said: "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."
National governing body Cuesports Singapore has submitted a safe return to sport template for clubs and members to national sports agency Sport Singapore.
Singapore's billiards world champion Peter Gilchrist urged the community to be patient.
He 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
