A Mapleton man has returned from an international snooker tournament with a sore arm and a renewed fondness for North American living conditions.
Alma resident Terry Davidson, the third ranked Canadian in the Masters Division (40 and up), represented Canada at the 2014 IBSF World Amateur Snooker Championships in Bangalore, India from Nov. 18 to 29.
After winning his first two matches handily, Davidson suffered a fall in a poorly-lit area of the bleachers about 30 minutes before his next match.
“I damaged my right arm quite badly and couldn’t deliver my cue for that match and lost it 3-0,” he told the Advertiser in an email.
“The next morning I had a technicolour bruise from below my elbow and all the way up to the shoulder. The bleachers area had no lighting and many different levels of the same-coloured concrete and I missed one,” said Davidson
He added six others, including a referee who injured his hip so severely he went home for treatment, also fell in the bleachers.
“You just couldn’t see up there so we all quit going up.”
Davidson said Kitchener competitor Paul Flemming was hit by a motorbike on a busy roadway outside the hotel (“six lanes of crazy traffic with no stop lights or pedestrian crossings”) and ended up with an eight-inch gash in his leg and the local hospital “used BandAids with no stitches and no antibiotic” so he returned to Canada early to see his doctor.
Davidson said he started to play better as the week progressed, winning two matches, but still failed to qualify for advancement by just one ball during his last match, which he lost 3-1.
“Had I potted that black ball it would have given me another frame win and I would have qualified even if I lost that match 3-2,” he explained.
Davidson noted the competition venue “was very bad,” as matches had to be stopped to remove pigeon feathers and droppings off the tables.
Also, he noted, the air conditioning didn’t start working until five days after the tournament began and the tables were playing “much slower than they should have.”
To make matters worse, Davidson, who was preparing last week for a ranking tournament in Toronto, experienced two bouts of “Delhi belly” while overseas and picked up a cold on the flight back.
“I have made a vow to never return to India again,” he stated.
