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Over the years, it has become common practice for players to leave the auditorium after the end of a frame. Some players take this to the extreme and are away from the table for quite some time ( I refer to the world quarter final match of 2010, when one player was gone for 10 minutes after one frame and then 5 minutes after the next). In my opinion, this was 'Ungentlemanly Conduct' and the player should have been warned. Had he been 10 minutes late at the start of the match, he would have been docked a frame! I would also argue that this can be deemed 'timewasting', as in my mind, it could break the players opponents concentration.
If a player needs to leave the auditorium, he (or she) should have a genuine reason for doing so, not just so he can re-gain his thoughts, and should not be gone for longer than it takes the referee to re-set the table (of course at some venues, the toilets etc., are a considerable distance from the playing area and the referee should take this into account).
The pressure of being in the arena is part of the game and if a player has to 'sit and stew', then so be it.
Of course sometimes, both players leave. But if they are both gone for a long time, I can see no reason why the referee cant warn both players on their return.
A player can be warned for taking an undue amount of time on taking a shot (Section 4, rule 3 - Timewasting), so why cant that rule, or section 4, rule 1 (ungentlemanly conduct), be applied to players taking a long time away from the arena between frames, or continually leaving the arena after a frame has finished?
If a player needs to leave the auditorium, he (or she) should have a genuine reason for doing so, not just so he can re-gain his thoughts, and should not be gone for longer than it takes the referee to re-set the table (of course at some venues, the toilets etc., are a considerable distance from the playing area and the referee should take this into account).
The pressure of being in the arena is part of the game and if a player has to 'sit and stew', then so be it.
Of course sometimes, both players leave. But if they are both gone for a long time, I can see no reason why the referee cant warn both players on their return.
A player can be warned for taking an undue amount of time on taking a shot (Section 4, rule 3 - Timewasting), so why cant that rule, or section 4, rule 1 (ungentlemanly conduct), be applied to players taking a long time away from the arena between frames, or continually leaving the arena after a frame has finished?
The public pay a lot of money to see their players, and I for one, get fed up with players leaving the auditorium, just because they have either won or lost a tight frame.
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