《英倫飛鴻》專訪世錦賽 斯諾克老闆安全第一不差錢兒

趙雪湄 May Zhao 英倫飛鴻

新冠病毒疫情期間舉辦一場世界性體育賽事非常困難複雜。2020年斯諾克世界錦標賽幕後，有一個專門團隊一直在兢兢業業地工作，以確保比賽得以進行。雖看不見他們，可你觀賞的每一場比賽都浸透這些人的心血與汗水。

7月31日，斯諾克世錦賽開賽首日，由於賽事組織方的竭誠努力，部分觀眾被準許保持距離的情況下入場觀賽。但同一天，由於英國一些地方疫情反彈，本該全程對外開放的比賽突然宣布禁止觀眾入內，使這項賽事變成了空場比賽。

但比賽一如繼往，如火如荼，今天已進入白熱化的半決賽最後回合。《英倫飛鴻》節目組，也緊鑼密鼓馬不停蹄地幕後採訪了賽事領導和部分球員，探尋與還原這屆特殊時期世錦賽的真實情況。

巴裡赫恩（Barry Hearn)

首先我們採訪了大老闆巴裡赫恩（Barry Hearn)。他全面綜合而又言簡意賅地介紹了整體情況：「今年世界斯諾克錦標賽的第一天，我們每場有300名觀眾（劇院共980個座位）入場觀賽。可儘管我們採取了安全措施，政府隨後還是取消了觀眾。

「目前我們已經關門大吉，但是決賽大結局的那天，我們有機會再出現少量人群入場。斯諾克世錦賽是是這項運動首屈一指的最重要賽事，（往年座無虛席）而今年憾缺了觀眾，隨之而來的是缺少了由其所產生的氣氛。第一天還有些氛圍，但是（從8月1日）到現在為止已經沒有了，電視直播中聽到的掌聲等等，是我們預先錄製好的。

巴掌門（巴裡赫恩主席）隨後又告訴我，球員們還是可以練球的。他們可以在賽場自己的球桌上練習，也能在保持社交距離的條件下，到自己的俱樂部中練球。預計觀眾全部允許返回賽場要等到10月底了。

儘管遭遇巨大困難，面臨重重阻力，但赫恩主席向《英倫飛鴻》表示，獎金一便士不少，維持新冠疫情之前的水平（240萬英鎊）。

巴老闆不差錢兒。

趙雪湄在斯諾克世錦賽上

《英倫飛鴻》又採訪了世錦賽的賽事總監唐娜·貝雷斯福德 （Donna Beresford）。她也是確保本屆賽事順利進行的關鍵人物之一，屬於核心成員。談起籌備過程，她感慨萬千介紹到：

「僅僅是為了能舉辦今年的斯諾克世錦賽，就需要大量的前期準備工作。賽事開始前，所有保護措施的重點，都是為了歡迎自新冠疫情導致全球封鎖以來首次入場觀賽的觀眾。（據考證，斯諾克世錦賽是疫情後，在英舉辦的首次允許觀眾入場觀看的大賽）。

唐娜·貝雷斯福德 （Donna Beresford）

「7月31日賽事第一天，保持著距離的觀眾隔席而坐，歡迎衛冕冠軍賈德.特魯姆普入場。我們周密部署的防疫安全措施，給現場驗查的政府數字、文化、媒體和體育部(DCMS)留下了深刻印象。

然而,新冠疫情在各地傳播數據飆升，導致英國政府叫停了觀眾入場。貝總監失望的同時認為，儘管如此，實施這些措施還是勢在必行：「從世界臺聯的角度來看，我們的目標是讓人們儘可能地感到安全。能成為第一個這樣做的體育項目，真是令人興奮。

「我們的第一步是確保每個觀眾都有自己的座位。為了便於排隊入場，在克魯斯堡劇院前面的廣場，設置了226個單獨的、保持社交距離的圓點。並確保位置的精確性和合理性。

「實現這些安全措施的同時,我們也希望營造一個節日的氛圍。在排隊入場的地方，我們安排了音樂家現場演奏和一輛流動售貨車叫賣冰激凌。在克魯斯堡（Crucible）劇院裡，我們精心設計座位布局，保證了社交距離。不使用的座位被清楚地標示出來。從DCMS和球迷那裡，我們得到了很好的反饋，遺憾的是截止今天我們只有一天時間和觀眾相處。

「後面的比賽實行閉門方式，但全世界球迷可以通過電視和視頻播放，欣賞到一屆賞心悅目的斯諾克比賽。和其他活動一樣，賽場後臺有一些漂亮狹長的走廊，控制人流非常重要。樓道裡到處都放置了洗手液。

「我們也對比賽場地進行了改動。球桌之間的隔屏以往是儘可能足夠短到人們可以從一邊走到另一邊。現在它長及整個場地，把兩個球檯隔得嚴嚴實實。這意味著攝影師、裁判和球員能夠在社交距離指導下安全操作，隔屏基本上就像一個大安全屏障。

「現場人數一直保持儘可能最少。無論是廣播員還是工作者。某些特殊區域只允許特定人員進入。所有工作人員、球員和他們的隨員，都要接受嚴格的核算檢測，如果任何一點沒有通過，都會被要求離開。

「清潔過程同樣嚴格要求。我們有清潔工,每30分鐘清潔一次各個接觸點。包括門把手、扶欄和人們不斷觸碰的任何東西。我們也使用臭氧機定期在場地所有房間工作。這個特殊設備,起到在房間裡淨化氧氣的作用。這個過程必須在夜間進行,因為在臭氧機工作時人們不能進入室內。房間裡的氧氣被吸入機器，然後機器用紫外線過濾器清洗氧氣，再把氧氣釋放回房間，這樣我們就可以不再使用化學藥品或噴霧劑，也能起到消毒作用。

雖然球迷們沒在現場觀賽，但唐娜·貝雷斯福德和世界臺聯的團隊已經盡其所能為克魯斯堡這個著名場館-斯諾克的精神搖籃，注入了許許多多不同凡響的元素……

Interview with Barry Hearn

We had 300 spectators in for the first day of the World Snooker Championship this year, but the government cancelled an audience attending immediately afterwards, despite the safety measures we put in place. We are now behind closed doors, but there is a chance we may have a small crowd for the final.

The World Championship is the No. 1 event in World Snooker and it is just that this year we are missing a crowd this year and the atmosphere it generates. There was a great crowd atmosphere on day one, but to date no more, but we have a pre-recorded crowd noise for our TV broadcasts.

The players have been able to practice on their own tables, or with social distancing within their own clubs. TV audiences are up, but we do not expect the return of live audiences until the end of October at the earliest.

All our prize money remains at pre Covid 19 levels.

Interview with WST Event Director Donna Beresford.

Just to stage this year’s World Championship, required hours upon hours of planning and preparation. Beresford was right at the heart of this process and was responsible for making these plans a reality.

On the eve of the tournament, all measures were geared towards being one of the first sporting events to welcome a crowd since the coronavirus pandemic caused nationwide lockdowns around the world.

The socially distanced and limited capacity crowd welcomed defending champion Judd Trump into the arena on the opening morning, as he began his Crucible campaign. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) conducted an inspection on that first day and were impressed by the COVID-secure safety measures which had been implemented.

「The first part of the process was making sure everyone could get to their seats. There were 226 individually printed and socially distanced dots laid out in Tudor Square at the front of the Crucible, to facilitate the queues before sessions. Lots of professional drawings were done to ensure everything fitted. Exact templates were used to lay out the dots at the appropriate distance.

「At the same time as implementing these safety measures, we also wanted there to be a bit of a festival feel. We had a musician on site and ice cream vans integrated into the queuing process. Inside the Crucible, the seating plan was meticulously devised to ensure socially distanced seating arrangements. The seats which were out of use have been clearly marked. We had great feedback from the DCMS and fans, it was just unfortunate with the timings that we only had one day with spectators.」

There are lots of beautiful, narrow corridors at the Crucible and controlling the flow of people through them is really important. We have hand sanitisor available all around the building.

「We』ve also had to alter the playing area. The dividing screen between the tables used to be short enough for people to move across from one side to the other. Now it covers the entire length of the arena floor. This means that cameramen, referees and players can operate safely within social distancing guidelines. It basically acts as a big safety screen.

「The number of people on site have been kept as low as possible, whether this be broadcasters, officials or the rigging crew. There are distinctive zones, which only certain people are allowed in. These include the backstage area, front of house and the TV compound. It is all very regimented. All of the staff, players and their guests are subject to our Covid-19 testing regime and if they fail at any point they will be asked to leave.

「The cleaning and sanitising process has been equally regimented. We have roaming cleaners, who sanitise any contact points every 30 minutes. These include door handles, railings anything that people are constantly touching. We’re also using an Ozone machine periodically in all rooms around the venue. This is a special piece of equipment, which purifies the oxygen in a room. The process has to be carried out overnight, as nobody can be in the room while it is happening. The oxygen inside a room is sucked into the machine, it then cleans it using a UV filter and pushes the oxygen back into the room. This allows us to sanitise an area without using chemicals or sprays.」

The sparkling snooker has continued to dazzle inside this highly sanitised environment. Although fans haven’t been present, Beresford and the WST team have done all they can to inject additional atmosphere into this famous venue...

趙雪湄 2009年春主創《英倫飛鴻》

May Zhao, Entrepreneur and creative force behind <letter from London > since the spring of 2009