Neil Robertson was sensationally thrown out of the World Open – for travelling to the ‘wrong Barnsley’ for his qualifier.
The Australian former world champion was due to play Ian Burns at the usual Metrodome venue in south Yorkshire on Friday night.
But world No4 Robertson, 37, incredibly headed for the Gloucestershire village of Barnsley instead.
The two towns are over 150 miles apart and it takes around three hours to drive from one to the other.
By the time he realised his mistake it was too late to make his match and Robertson was summarily ejected from the event by the tournament director.
Robertson has a track record for arriving late at tournaments – but this season has seen a catalogue of misfortune even by his standards.
The left-hander could not defend his Riga Masters title after a cancelled flight. And he was forced to withdraw from the China Championship through illness.
In the past Robertson lost his passport in the build-up to the German Masters in 2011.
He said on Twitter yesterday: “When I realised there was a second Barnsley it was too late to get to the other one. Hopefully I’ll be able to either play or complete a match this season.”
When asked by a user on the platform how he had managed to forget where a venue was that he has played at before, Robertson responded: "A friend always drives me to qualifiers but he selfishly entered a Challenge Tour event this weekend."
Englishman Burns has now been put into the tournaments finals which take place in Yushan in China later this month.
