Well, well, well. We have seen matches being delayed due to numerous reasons. Inclement weather, rough surface and umpire absent to name a few. Yet, we keep on coming across bizarre circumstances every now and then, which keep us amused. Here is another one.
This is an incident which happened in the ongoing China Open. The match was a qualifier, between Chinese Jiayi Wang and American Quinn Gleason. The fans were getting ready for the match before a quirky story came up on Gleason’s Instagram handle – “A v quick 2nd plot twist – opponent currently locked in bathroom awaiting rescue”.
The news spread like wildfire and the authorities worked hard to first, trace Wang and then, if you wish, ‘evacuate’ her. It is pretty lucky that this incident happened inside the stadium – because here, you have one official accompany the player to the bathroom. Had this happened outside the stadium, it would have been very difficult to trace Wang.
The story goes such that Jiayi went to visit the bathroom just before the start of the match. Quinn Gleason, done with her warmup routines, was waiting for her opponent to come out, but it was taking a bit of a while. Eventually, as the news came out, the American decided to have some fun with a very quirky post. Of course, it was not personal by any means.
Thankfully, the delay was not for long. Eventually, the officials managed to get Wang out of the bathroom and she came out to play in front of her home crowd. She efficiently produced a 6-2, 7-5 display over the American, to qualify for the second qualifying round.
On a similar note, we are reminded of a delay due to another bizarre reason earlier this year. It was the quarterfinal of the Italian Open between Rafael Jodar and Luciano Darderi, which had to be suspended for 20 minutes, due to smoke coming from the fireworks in the nearby Coppa Italia Final, celebrating Inter Milan’s victory. The smoke became so dense at the Foro Italico, that both, players and fans were having visibility issues, while the electronic line-calling system stopped functioning properly.
It is just amazing to see how weird can some issue be, forcing a halt or delay in matches. Remember the bee incident in an MS Dhoni match against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam, 2005, with every player lying on the ground on his stomach? Or the Sharjah sandstorm during the 1994 Coca-Cola Cup match between Australia and India? Guess some things just find a permanent space in the back of our minds.
Add Comment