Neil Robertson’s tendency for tardiness hit new levels on Friday after the Australian drove towards the wrong Barnsley for a World Open qualifying match.
Robertson was due to face Ian Burns in the preliminary fixture at the Barnsley Metrodome in South Yorkshire.
But the former world champion took a different route and ended up close to Barnsley village in Gloucestershire instead.
By the time the 37 year-old realised his mistake, there wasn’t enough time to get back to the real venue and he thus forfeited the encounter to Burns.
Unfortunately for the Melbourne man, it isn’t the first time that he’s made a mishap with his planning.
In 2011, Robertson lost his passport in the run-up to that year’s German Masters and there have been various other incidents of him arriving late.
Earlier this season, for instance, Robertson had to pull out of his defence of the Riga Masters because of flight cancellations in Luton and subsequently withdrew mid-match from the China Championship due to illness.
However, the former world number one appeared to take it in good spirits and joked, “hopefully I’ll be able to either play or complete a match this season.”
When I realised there was a 2nd Barnsley it was too late to get to the other oneš„“ Hopefully Iāll be able to either play or complete a match this seasonš¢ pic.twitter.com/dmRezQfBvH
ā Neil Robertsonš± (@nr147) October 4, 2019
Elsewhere, there were victories for World Cup winning duo John Higgins and Stephen Maguire.
The Scottish pair recorded respective 5-2 triumphs over Chen Zifan and Oliver Lines, while countrymen Graeme Dott and Anthony McGill also progressed to the venue stages.
Hossein Vafaei, who last week embarked on a run to the last four in Guangzhou, continued his fine form with a 5-1 thrashing of Mitchell Mann.
Zhao Xintong repeated that scoreline to ensure his participation in the Chinese’s next home event, joined by compatriots Li Hang and Zhang Anda.
Reigning European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson beat Duane Jones 5-2 while Mark Davis, Jackson Page, and Craig Steadman were other winners on the penultimate day in Barnsley.
The biggest upset occurred late on when Elliot Slessor fought back from 4-2 behind to narrowly defeat Ryan Day in a decider.
The World Open qualifiers conclude on Saturday with the likes of Mark Allen, David Gilbert, and Ali Carter in action.
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