The new boss of World Snooker, Barry Hearn, has been told that the sport needs to change the amount of bathroom breaks a player is allowed to take during a tournament. Apparently players are going to the bathroom too much and it is distracting as well as interrupting televised events.

Shaun Murphy was irritated during the UK Championships as he was up against Ding Junhui who left after most of his frames during their match. Ding said there were big lights and he was feeling hot so he had to go out.

The UK Championship director Michael Ganley commented that there is no rule that controls how many times a player can go to the restroom during a match. However Ganley does ask players to keep in mind that they are playing on live television and they should not go unless they absolutely have to.

Ganley commented: "I know there are restrictions about this in tennis but that is different because the players are sweating such a lot. Snooker players drink a lot of water but they don't sweat much of it out."

Many seem to be on the same page on the subject and say that players should be able to walk away during a dramatic frame to settle their emotions but not after every single frame. It will be interesting to see if Hearn makes a move to create a ruling on the subject.






- 2009-12-31