Sussex snooker stars get 2020-21 campaigns started

Jimmy Robertson, from Bexhill, and St Leonards-based Mark Davis will line up in the European Masters at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes next week.

World number 28 Robertson will face Ashley Carty in round one on Wednesday afternoon. And 39th-ranked Davis will play Moroccan cueman Amine Amiri on Tuesday morning.

Robertson, 34, claimed his maiden ranking title in the same event two years ago and will be seeking to avenge a loss to 77th-ranked Carty at the World Championship Qualifiers in July.

The 48-year-old Davis is embarking on a remarkable 29th season on the tour, having first turned professional way back in 1991 - three years before Amiri was even born.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, however, this one will be rather different to all that have gone before it.

The first eight events of the season will be played at the Marshall Arena, which also staged two tournaments in June as the sport returned behind closed doors following lockdown.

The venue boasts on-site accommodation, meaning everyone involved can be contained at the complex and thereby minimising the risk of a tournament being cancelled due to a Covid issue.