Jimmy White withdraws from China Open

[beechy1212]

Agreed. All that will happen is the players will simply start boycotting such totaliarian coutries like China. It's a poor show.

[Neil Taperell]

I agree with you Beechy . Jimmy should stick 2 fingers up to them .

[wildJONESEYE]

Agreed. All that will happen is the players will simply start boycotting such totaliarian coutries like China. It's a poor show.

yes but its not exclusivly china

Last season there was a plan of playing the Wenbo qualifier in this country but he couldnt get a visa to play the china open in Wales so they had to re schedule a china open match to china

then this season aparantly Ding couldnt get a visa to play in the early PTC in sheffield

[ore]

yes but its not exclusivly china

Last season there was a plan of playing the Wenbo qualifier in this country but he couldnt get a visa to play the china open in Wales so they had to re schedule a china open match to china

then this season aparantly Ding couldnt get a visa to play in the early PTC in sheffield

hmm so it's not only china's visa policy...

[northerner]

This all may be confusing to anyone who rarely deals with visa regulations for foreign countries. However, snooker players or their managers or World Snooker only deal with a handful of destinations and should be able to follow the immigration procedures. Some countries issue a visa which allows unlimited entries within a given time period. Others grant single entry visas and multiple entry visas and ask the applicant to selct whichever is appropriate. There may be limits as to how far in advance one can obtain a visa, or even on which country you must be in to apply for the visa. In some cases a second passport may be required.

One can only assume that Jimmy had not read any of the conditions printed on his visa, or he would have been able to obtain a new one in Bangkok last week. If I had been responsible for his travel plans I would now be feeling deeply embarrassed, and would have been trying as many avenues as possible to get a new visa issued before Monday, though that would no doubt require very high level influence with it being the weekend and short notice. Probably not possible.

I cannot blame the Chinese for having an immigration policy and following it. The idea that Jimmy does not pose a threat to security or has been there before is hardly the point. If he hasn't got a visa (ie. he hasn't been cleared in advance by Chinese immigration officials) then China clearly is in no position to know whether he is a threat to security or not. They theoretically figure that out when they go over the visa application. There are plenty of important in respected people in many fields who pose no threat to China, and China will accordingly grant them a visa provided they fill in the forms and give a couple of days' notice. I do not of course have any idea of the reasons why Jimmy was unable to comply with those regulations so can't comment on that.

[FOXMULDER]

Agreed. All that will happen is the players will simply start boycotting such totaliarian coutries like China. It's a poor show.

Every other player made it there safely...

VISA problems is something you usually have advanced knowledge of. I'm guessing this is a cock up at Jimmy's end.

[shiyii]

Mark,read it later

[Sarah Mount]

Official Press Release regarding Jimmy's withdrawal

As you are aware, Jimmy White was forced to pull out of the China Open due to a problem with his VISA.

Jimmy attended a recent Snooker Fayre in China to help promote snooker on the BCE stand. As a result of his work for BCE, they arranged a one-month VISA for him, on his behalf. Jimmy then travelled to Thailand to continue to promote snooker by taking part in a number of exhibitions. As he went to board his flight from Thailand to China, it became apparent that his VISA, despite being valid for one-month, was only valid for one visit therefore rendering it invaild for his return to China. World Snooker and their colleagues in China did their best to overcome the VISA issue but were unfortunately unsuccessful due to it being a weekend. Jimmy is grateful for World Snooker's assistance and would like to thank those who attempted to solve the problem.

Jimmy takes full responsibility for the error admitting that he should have checked that the VISA was a multi-visit VISA. He is devastated to be missing out on the opportunity to play in this great event in front of the passionate Chinese fans. Jimmy would like to express his sincere apologies to everyone involved for his withdrawal and we reiterate that everything possible was done to prevent this.

Paul Mount, Managing Director of On Q Promotions commented "Our clients, which include Jimmy White, choose which services they want us to provide for them, from our array of services, and which ones they prefer to do themselves. Several of our players prefer arranging their own travel and associated documentation, especially when they travel frequently and need regular access to their passport. For these clients we merely check with them before events that they are covered and on the odd occasion where we identify an issue we generally take over and sort things out very quickly." He continued "On this occasion we were not involved in Jimmy's travel arrangements and are devastated for Jimmy and the Chinese fans especially as Jimmy has worked so hard this year to rediscover his form and in recent weeks has been striking the ball as well as he ever has. It is not an ideal end to the season for Jimmy but it has provided him with additional motivation to continue working hard so that he starts next season well. He will be especially keen to qualify for the Chinese events."

[ferret]

Must be some favoritism going on then because I have just heard that Ronnie O'Sullivan got to China but also had visa problem and he was held at customs, The CBSA sorted Ronnie's Visa problems out and he was granted access to China a few hours later.

Favors for one player and not for the other!

[ore]

Sarah, thanks for the clarification!

Now TSF members can be free of detective guess work

[ore]

Must be some favoritism going on then because I have just heard that Ronnie O'Sullivan got to China but also had visa problem and he was held at customs, The CBSA sorted Ronnie's Visa problems out and he was granted access to China a few hours later.

Favors for one player and not for the other!

White could have been the unlucky one just because his flight was on the weekend, and Ronnie's on Monday.

And it might help to have almost a household name, sometimes people know just "O'Sullivan" not even knowing which type of billiards is he exactly playing... I mean some of the counties outside UK ofc.

[Sarah Mount]

Must be some favoritism going on then because I have just heard that Ronnie O'Sullivan got to China but also had visa problem and he was held at customs, The CBSA sorted Ronnie's Visa problems out and he was granted access to China a few hours later.

Favors for one player and not for the other!

I heard about this but do not know anymore information so cannot comment on Ronnie's situation but, I do know that despite the best efforts of a number of people, the fact that it was a Sunday caused even more problems for Jimmy and ultimately effected the opportunity to resolve the VISA issue.

[beechy1212]

Thanks for the updates. At least jimmy has the balls to take full responsibilty. Personally, i'd be spitting feathers. Nevermind. I'm sure lessons will be learnt but this should have easily been cleared up. Far too much red tape around.

[chasmmi]

besides Ronnies Visa problem may have just stemmed from the official refusing tobelieve that somebody with the name Ronnie O Sullivan was actually trying to enter China. :P

[jw147]

For the amount that jimmy has done for this sport, its pretty appaulling that the wpbsa didnt sort this out....weekend or no weekend.

His match could of been withheld till tomoro at least....he qualified for the event and should of been playing selby anyway...its a ranking event, how can wildcards even be in it.

I hope he tells barry hearn and co what to do, if they come looking for him to do some work for the bbc during the world championships, when people are dozzing off looking at terry griffiths and co.