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Snooker’s top boss says Hong Kong’s reputation won’t suffer after fans kicked out early

World Snooker Tour CEO Simon Brownell says city won’t be damaged by incident at Kai Tak Arena, promises it won’t happen again

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Spectators watch the first round match between Mark Williams and Stuart Bingham at Kai Tak Arena. Photo: Elson Li

Hong Kong’s reputation was unlikely to suffer because fans were kicked out of Kai Tak Arena midway through a first-round World Grand Prix match on Tuesday, snooker’s top official has said.

Spectators watching reigning world champion Kyren Wilson play Matthew Selt were ordered to leave ahead of a midnight curfew imposed by officials to coincide with public transport services stopping for the day.

The move forced World Snooker Tour (WST) to issue a “sincere apology” in the early hours of Wednesday, and led to Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, the secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, issuing a stern rebuke hours later to organisers and the officials responsible for running Kai Tak Sports Park.

Law said the two parties had to learn lessons, including about how to handle events that overran.

According to Law, around 100 spectators were told to leave the venue at 11.15pm. Of those, around 60 stayed, and around 20 subsequently got into a dispute with arena officials.
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