It now seems likely that the Australian Open will commence on Feb 8th which is 3 weeks after the original date.
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Brisbane Heat star Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been taken from hotel quarantine and to a Gold Coast hospital, after testing positive for COVID-19.
Has been in quarantine since entering from Afghanistan.
In Queensland, anyone who tests positive is removed from hotel quarantine and taken to hospital immediately.
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1000 people can now attend Living Legends race day at Flemington on Saturday. The rise is subject to clubs being able to host that many people in a COVIDSafe environment, while other protocols including allocated seats will also remain in place.
Herald Sun adds that VRC’s membership department is now wading through an oversubscription of ballots from members eager to attend the meeting.
Next years Australia Day celebrations in Melbourne will be scrapped by the Andrews Government, according to the Herald Sun causing an “outrage”.
The flag rising ceremony will apparently be moved from Melbourne Town Hall to Government House.
To be honest, I did not know there was even a parade to mark Australia Day.
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The Australia Day parade has been held for at least a decade. The scrapping of the 2021 event, along with low crowd limits for major sporting venues, suggests the Andrews Government is very conservative when it comes to allowing people to attend large scale events compared with other states and territories.
If the trend continues, next year’s Moomba Parade could be at risk at well.
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It has been replaced by a Festival of Cycling from January 19 to 24 across Adelaide. It will include a 4-day National Road Series for both men and women.
As part of the Festival’s COVID Management plan, selected events will be ticketed which will include limited-capacity entry for the road race start and finishes. A free ticket will be required to access both race starts and finish locations and will be available from Tour Down Under website tomorrow (December 14).
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The Tasmanian Government announced today seating capacity at outdoor sporting events would be allowed to increase to 75% from January 1, while capacity at cinemas and theatres would be increased to 75% of the venue’s seating up to 250 people from next Monday (December 21).
And in further good news, the general public will finally be able to go to the races this Saturday (December 19) for the first time since March, with the government approving the VRC’s application to have capacity of 5000 at Flemington for this summer. General admission racegoers can purchase tickets to enjoy front lawn picnic tables or Hill Stand reserved seats via Ticketek from Thursday with prices starting at $12 per person. Tickets must be pre-purchased.
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ATP have confirmed that the Australian Open will commence on Feb 8th 2021. The qualifiers will take place from 10-13 Jan in Doha (Qatar) for the first time, to ensure only qualifying players are flying to Melbourne. There will also be some pre-season tournaments in Melbourne as well, which includes the Adelaide International.
Now hopefully the VIC Government can confirm attendance numbers very soon so that tickets can go on sale.
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Do the qualifiers get broadcast by 9? So it will be “Doha” or will it be “Melbourne” or “Australian Open Qualifiers - live from Qatar”?
And “Adelaide International from Melbourne”?
I don’t think that qualifiers are usually televised are they? They are just the last wildcard spots to the tournament for anyone ranked outside top 100.
Is that right?
The Doha qualifiers next year replace the Qatar Open. Qatar Open is shown in Australia on BeIN Sport.
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Tennis Australia usually streams them online
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will resume at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre on February 25 next year, after taking nearly a year off due to COVID-19.
The theatre will have 75% capacity and the audience will likely need to wear masks.
Human Nature returned to Australia mid November for a tour. They got out of quarantine on 2nd December, but now Toby Allen has been put back into quarantine for two weeks after sitting near someone on a flight from Sydney to Brisbane on Wednesday who now has covid.
The outbreak has caused the organisers of Carols in the Domain to close the filming to the public. It is still going ahead at ICC Darling Harbour tonight and tomorrow.
Next week’s Sydney to Hobart yacht race will go ahead after the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia held an emergency meeting this morning, but withdrawals are expected as many sailors and staff live in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
It’s now looking like the Sydney to Hobart will not go ahead.