Pundit Neal Foulds believes snooker bosses missed a trick over staging arrangements during the World Championship which he felt put a downer on the tournament.

The 2020 World Championship was unlike any other for so many reasons due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Snooker’s showcase tournament could not go ahead as planned in its traditional timeslot of April and May due to the seriousness of the pandemic and was rescheduled for the summer.

Initially the plan was to have crowds in during the tournament and a limited number of fans were able to watch the first day of the action. But during the opening day the Government stopped people from watching live sporting events following a rise in infections, meaning most of the remainder of the tournament was played behind closed doors.

But the lack of crowds did not impact the quality of snooker. Thousands, if not millions, saw a 147 from John Higgins and an incredible day of semi-final deciders as both matches concluded in dramatic fashion – without doubt two of the most exciting finishes ever seen at the Crucible.

And Foulds, who was commentating for Eurosport during the tournament – won by Ronnie O’Sullivan, described the World Championship as “incredible”.

However, despite this, he recently revealed what let him down most during the tournament.

He said: “It was an incredible World Championship. But what makes me feel really sad about it is that they couldn’t do anything at the Crucible to block off the seats.

“You were reminded everyday of these rows of empty seats and that was quite sad.”