Coronavirus makes snooker even tougher for Norway's number one Kurt Maflin

Genuine snooker hotbeds are pretty much limited to the UK and China, which leaves Kurt Maflin a bit out in the cold in Norway.

The world number 43 was born and raised in south London, a very promising prospect as a youngster, but chose to tread the unique snooker path of leaving Old Kent Road for Oslo at the age of 20.

Maflin moved with his now wife Anita, who he has now been with for 19 years and recently celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary, but while he made the right call on a personal front, being stationed at one of snooker’s outposts can be tough.

Constant travel and a lack of local competition for practice are among the 36-year-old’s problems, as are the prices in his adopted home.

‘For snooker reasons it wasn’t the best move I’ve ever made,’ Maflin told Metro.co.uk. ‘I actually moved my address back to the UK because I’m spending half my time there anyway and financially it’s better to be based over there.

‘It’s so expensive here, it’s ridiculous. They’ve got Iceland here now and I went in, bought some chicken strips and they were 17 pounds! Should be two quid!

‘A bottle of vodka, you have to go to a special shop for wine or spirits, a bottle of vodka, not even a litre, is about £45.

‘Being in Norway has definitely held me back on the tour. I do try and practice as hard as I can, but getting motivated is hard when you’ve got absolutely nobody to practice with.

‘It wasn’t the best move to move here as far as snooker’s concerned. But everything else, living in Norway is beautiful, my wife, my son, you can’t change those things, it’s one against 10 positive things.’

Maflin is playing in Championship League Snooker next week in Milton Keynes, the sport’s return to action after the coronavirus hiatus, and his itinerary illustrates just how the new normal is going to be even trickier for him.

‘Flights are back on now, but there’s no direct flights from Norway to London so I have to fly via Reykjavik,’ Kurt continued. ‘It’ll be about eight hours, when it’s usually about two.

‘I’d normally get a flight for 60 or 70 quid. A couple of days ago I wasn’t sure it was worth going. If you have a s**t day, finish fourth and think “what was the bloody point of this?”

‘But I looked at the flights and eventually got this one for about £300 one-way. It’s not cheap, flights are going to be quite expensive now in the future.’

The 36-year-old at least does not have to deal with quarantine this time around, but going back to be with his wife and son after the Championship League and then returning for the World Championship qualifiers in July could see him forced into two weeks of isolation.

‘The only fears I had [over the Championship League] was to do with the quarantine, but there’s no quarantine till 8 June in the UK,’ he explained.

‘That gets me in, but then I’ll come back to Norway because my wife and my kid’s here, I live in the UK basically now, but I’m about 50-50 between the two.

‘But I might have to come over on 1 or 2 July with the Worlds starting on 18 July, or whatever, which is not really ideal. They’re trying to negotiate something for us to be tested or else I might be isolating for two weeks and maybe not being able to go out and practice.

‘I had a plan to come over 7 or 8 July, do a couple of days practice in Dunstable, then make my way up towards Sheffield. Have a day with [Mark] Selby, a day with [Dave] Gilbert then a couple of days in an academy in Sheffield. I don’t know if that’ll be doable now.

‘It would be too long to stay after Milton Keynes. I’ve got responsibilities here, got a kid that goes to school, my wife works, sometimes nights, so that means little man’s on his own for seven or eight hours. It’s difficult.’

Maflin certainly has a lot more to deal with than a player based in Sheffield or Essex, but it is the path he has chosen and he is determined not let it hold him back.

He has made one brief appearance in the world’s top 32 but most observers, and certainly many fellow players, would say he is capable of more than that.

‘It’s nice to hear that coming from, well, enemies…they’re trying to take my dinner money!’ Kurt said. ‘Most of the top boys would put me higher up than where I am and I’m sure they wouldn’t want to draw me first round of the Worlds, but I need to start producing.’

The London-native reached the Riga Masters semi-final and China Championship quarters early in the season, while he pushed Mark Allen to a thrilling deciding frame in the UK Championship last 16, but he knows he can be going deep in events more regularly.

‘I started the season of really well this year, practicing hard and doing well, I was in London a lot of the time and practicing hard with Dad,’ Maflin explained. ‘Towards Christmas I fell off the wagon a bit.

‘I was on a good track but I lost a couple of tight games and lost that big game against Mark Allen at the UK in the last 16. It was one of the best games I’ve been involved in.

‘The main goal is to get back into the top 32, I’ve only just touched in there once. I should be, I feel like I should be in there, knocking on doors, pushing boundaries, semis, finals and possibly winning a tournament or too.

‘My dream was that when I finish snooker I wouldn’t have to work anymore, but that isn’t the case at the moment.

’40 seems to be the new 25 in snooker so there is no rush but I would like to start hitting the time where I’m more stable and regularly hitting the quarters and semis, push on and make some money.’

In 2015, Maflin made his one and only Crucible appearance, becoming the first man to represent Norway in the main stages of the World Championship.

It was a memorable contest as he pushed defending champion Mark Selby all the way to a deciding frame, where he narrowly lost out, but he feels he thrives on the big stage.

‘The whole experience was fantastic it was great to be involved in and I loved the intensity of it,’ he said. ‘I’m normally a player that plays well under the TV lights, the cameras and everything, I normally do produce quite well.

‘I’ve had a few games with Neil Robertson in recent years and they’re usually tight and high quality. I do enjoy playing in those situations so hopefully there’ll be a few more coming.’

As with many players, fans and anyone involved in sport have found, absence makes the heart grow fonder and everyone is very excited to get involved again at the Championship League, if only just to get out of the house…

‘I’m looking forward to coming over, to be honest I’m looking forward to being away for a few days. I haven’t been with the missus this long for about 10 years and I don’t plan to be in the future,’ Kurt joked (I think).

‘I get a decent five weeks here at Christmas, which I really enjoy. It’s nice because June-December is pretty full on. A four-five week break is nice but not a four month break, that’s too far.

‘I’m never going to complain about travelling again, that’s for sure.’

Maflin takes on Neil Robertson, Ken Doherty and Ashley Carty in Group 16 of the Championship League on 7 June.

Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.