Withdrawals … and with Ronnie now…

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

WST published this earlier today

Martin Gould has pulled out of the BetVictor German Masters and BetVictor Welsh Open for medical reasons. 

Gould was due to face John Higgins in the second round in Berlin on Tuesday evening, instead Higgins will receive a bye to the last 32.

Sydney Wilson has replaced Gould in the BetVictor Welsh Open qualifying round and will face Wu Yize on Saturday. 

Hossein Vafaei has withdrawn from the BetVictor German Masters dues to visa issues. He was due to face Elliot Slessor in the second round on Monday, instead Slessor will receive a bye to the last 32.

First of all, I’m wishing Martin Gould a speedy and complete recovery.

Next… no Ronnie withdrawal announced yet but it’s clear that whatever happens there will be no replacements at the German Masters no matter when players pull out from here on.

ok… I only published the above that they now corrected their announcement

Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from next week’s BetVictor German Masters for medical reasons. 

O’Sullivan has been replaced in the draw by Barry Pinches, who will play Julien Leclercq in a first round match on Monday afternoon (January 29th).

Hossein Vafaei has pulled out due to visa issues. He was due to face Elliot Slessor in the second round on Monday, instead Slessor will receive a bye to the last 32.

Martin Gould has withdrawn for medical reasons. Gould was due to face John Higgins in the second round in Berlin on Tuesday evening, instead Higgins will receive a bye to the last 32.

Gould has also pulled out of the BetVictor Welsh Open qualifying round and been replaced by Sydney Wilson, who will face Wu Yize on Saturday. 

The fact that Ronnie IS replaced when Gould and Vafaei are not tells only one story – to me at least – and it’s that Ronnie had withdrawn earlier but they were keeping in quiet.

Forget that! Of course as Mr Rerack exlpains in the comment section the ones who already won a match can’t be replaced. Silly mistake from me. Sorry for that.

And now Ronnie himself shared it…

5 thoughts on “Withdrawals … and with Ronnie now…”

  1. What are you guys talking about? Vafaei and Gould had already played and won their qualifying/round 1 matches, so could NOT be “replaced” in the last 64. Ronnie’s qualifying match was “held-over”, so of course he (and any other people playing in held-over matches) could easily be replaced.

  2. That’s exactly what I was thinking about: why replace Ronnie and not the others? Not fair to the German fans. Martin Gould’s withdrawal is worrisome, as he is in danger of losing his tourcard as far as I know, and I abhor when players have to withdraw because of visa issues. I’m sure it’s at least partly due to Brexit, but the one who suffers is not the one responsible. 😦

    I just hope Ronnie pulls out of the Welsh fast, or they announce it fast, so Liam Graham and his family are not too disappointed.

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