Jimmy White withdraws from China Open

[beechy1212]

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.

That's actually a very good point. Players shouldn't be shoe-horned into an event. Especially a ranking event. What was the purpose of all these wildcards? If they want to enter the event, they should roll their socks up and earn their place like everyone else has to.

[jw147]

That's actually a very good point. Players shouldn't be shoe-horned into an event. Especially a ranking event. What was the purpose of all these wildcards? If they want to enter the event, they should roll their socks up and earn their place like everyone else has to.

True, especially considering its a ranking event, the least that could of been done was postpone this match until tomorrow.

[wildJONESEYE]

thats a very good point infact with the selby match not scheduled until wednsday 12.30pm british time wasent there a genuine case to tell Tian if Jimmy can get here by 12.30pm wednsday your no longer needed.

[Odrl]

That's actually a very good point. Players shouldn't be shoe-horned into an event. Especially a ranking event. What was the purpose of all these wildcards? If they want to enter the event, they should roll their socks up and earn their place like everyone else has to.

Well, that's easy to say, but it's not that simple. The Chinese players compete for a very limited number of Main Tour spots that are available to them without traveling across the world.

The Q School, which awards the most places, is staged entirely in the UK. It's much easier for amateurs who live within driving distance and are already adjusted to the culture to risk the entry fee and other expenses in pursuing their dream. And just imagine what it must have been like until this season, when Asian players had to spend months in the UK to have any chance of qualifying through the PIOS.

They also don't have professional players living around the corner, so their only chance of playing world-class opposition is when the Main Tour players come over for these events.

thats a very good point infact with the selby match not scheduled until wednsday 12.30pm british time wasent there a genuine case to tell Tian if Jimmy can get here by 12.30pm wednsday your no longer needed.

While the issue of the wildcard round itself is pretty legitimate, having scheduled it, surely you can't then tell a player who arrived for the match in time that he has lost his place. Especially if the other guy failed to show up because of his own complacency.

[the_Crippler09]

Its an extremely unfortunate situation but i guess rules are rules and ye gotta follow em, so Jimmys only got himself to blame.

On the wildcard round, i agree they maybe could`ve rescheduled Jimmys match to Wednesday, but that of course would be too easy, wouldn`t it ?

I also dont mind the wildcard round but disagree how its structured, the last 32 players should be in the hat for the wildcard round, not just the qualifiers!

[miscuehamburg]

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!

Well, it's China This kind of unpredictability comes along with their system, doesn't it?

Pity for Jimmy for sure, since it's season over for him. Probably he would have stayed in the tournament even longer than ROS. We shall see...

[northerner]

If Jimmy had been able to board the flight to Beijing - at his own expense should the airline have to return him to Bangkok if he were denied entry (and this is why the airline would flag the problem in Bangkok) then perhaps the matter could have been resolved by immigration officials in Beijing. However it certainly couldn't be resolved on a Sunday in Bangkok. This may explain how Ronnie's difficulties, whatever they may have been, could be resolved on arrival.

Perhaps.

Too late now.

[tcollick]

Well, that's easy to say, but it's not that simple. The Chinese players compete for a very limited number of Main Tour spots that are available to them without traveling across the world.

The Q School, which awards the most places, is staged entirely in the UK. It's much easier for amateurs who live within driving distance and are already adjusted to the culture to risk the entry fee and other expenses in pursuing their dream. And just imagine what it must have been like until this season, when Asian players had to spend months in the UK to have any chance of qualifying through the PIOS.

They also don't have professional players living around the corner, so their only chance of playing world-class opposition is when the Main Tour players come over for these events.



While the issue of the wildcard round itself is pretty legitimate, having scheduled it, surely you can't then tell a player who arrived for the match in time that he has lost his place. Especially if the other guy failed to show up because of his own complacency.

I can't agree with this. It should be an invitational if wildcards are allowed. Its just not right. Professionals who have battled through qualifying, their livelihoods are on the line. Not to mention the travelling costs. I'm not knocking the wildcards themselves and well done to Li Han for taking it. But the format is b$%ocks.

[Monique]

If Jimmy had been able to board the flight to Beijing - at his own expense should the airline have to return him to Bangkok if he were denied entry (and this is why the airline would flag the problem in Bangkok) then perhaps the matter could have been resolved by immigration officials in Beijing. However it certainly couldn't be resolved on a Sunday in Bangkok. This may explain how Ronnie's difficulties, whatever they may have been, could be resolved on arrival.

Perhaps.

Too late now.

Most probably the fact that it was the week-end and Jimmy had to play on Monday was a key problem.
Not to mention that Ronnie was flying straight from UK while Jimmy was entering from Thailand. This might also have made a difference in the eyes of the customs authorities.

[Odrl]

I can't agree with this. It should be an invitational if wildcards are allowed. Its just not right. Professionals who have battled through qualifying, their livelihoods are on the line. Not to mention the travelling costs. I'm not knocking the wildcards themselves and well done to Li Han for taking it. But the format is b$%ocks.

Well, the Main Tour players are not actually risking any money or ranking points, because the wildcards aren't eligible for those. They only lose the chance to have a crack at a top16 player, if they can't get past an amateur first.

From my point of view, as a viewer, I don't mind the extra round, because whoever wins is the player capable of playing better snooker at that point in time.

In terms of fairness, I don't mind it that much either, because it's not really a fair deal for the Chinese players in other fields. As I said, the qualifying channels are very much biased in favour of the European players. For the Chinese that do qualify, they have to play most of their snooker in a cubicle in Sheffield, including the qualifiers for Chinese events. As for traveling costs, never mind that, their only chance is to actually move to the UK.

The wildcard round is a bit of compensation. And the fact that the Main Tour players routinely get caught out in it just shows what's it's like when the roles are reversed. Here you have the local players playing in an atmosphere they are used to, while the eight professionals are taken out of their comfort zone, having to play in a foreign country against local opposition. And we are not even talking about the players from the 1st qualifying round here, these are eight of the best qualifiers in this particular event, and they still find themselves in danger. If nothing else, the wildcard round at least provides some sort of reference of what the standard is like in this part of the world.

[shiyii]

Thanks for this explanation. Like Joneseye said, the worlds going mad, especially China. They have very limited internet access as well, don't they? It's about time people started standing up and refusing to go. Don't have any events there. Let them live in their own bubble. That said, it's unfair on the genuine Chinese people who don't want to live under such a dictatorship.

So well done to all the nutjobs involved in this sad, pathetic bureaucracy. Nice one. You have just ruined the tournament for a number of fans and especially the young lad that was playing Jimmy White.

You don't half talk some sh1t,is that your hobby to take it too far and being as rude as you can?
There may be insane issues over here in the country,just like anywhere else,but this time before you talk nonsense,have you ever noticed that not everywhere in the world is apart of EU? You HAVE to check the visa before come to China as long as you ain't an international smuggler,and please,why could other players come here without trouble?