In the opening round of the Welsh Open at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Scottish teenager Liam Graham will have another chance to take on the snooker great Ronnie O’Sullivan. Graham referred to the top player as “disrespectful” when O’Sullivan withdrew from their Scottish Open in the closing stages. O’Sullivan, a seven-time world champion who had just won his eighth UK Championship championship, denied the charge.
Less than two weeks after the Scottish youngster criticized the world No. 1 for abruptly withdrawing from their scheduled Scottish Open match, Ronnie O’Sullivan was granted a first-round match against Liam Graham at the Welsh Open.
Graham moved on to the Home Nations tournament’s second round by default when O’Sullivan abruptly withdrew from the competition for “medical reasons”
The UK champion and Graham were paired in the Welsh Open draw on Thursday. The ranking event at Venue Cymru in Llandudno is scheduled to run till February 18.The UK champion and Graham were paired in the Welsh Open draw on Thursday. The ranking event at Venue Cymru in Llandudno is scheduled to run till February 18.
Graham told reporters, “What he’s done is disrespectful and wrong.” “It’s disappointing that so many people took time off work to watch today.”Ultimately, my goal is to compete against the world’s top players, and I was eager to do so. Many of my guests came to watch, and they are rather disappointed.It makes sense considering what he does. When I arrived at the location this morning, I learned. I believe he left really late, so I didn’t have much notice.
“Everyone who traveled to see me would have come another day, and I would have stayed at home.”
Graham claimed that O’Sullivan had deliberately withdrawn from the competition at the last minute, but O’Sullivan denied this.
“I feel fine,” O’Sullivan said to Eurosport. I was not quite ready to come and play here at the Scottish Open, which is extremely sad because I love this tournament, this city, and this location. However, I have recovered from the UK Championship, which was a difficult tournament and took a lot out of me.
Robert Milkins will take on Jamie Jones in the opening round of his Welsh Open title defence, while Mark Allen will take on Cao Yupeng in a rematch of the Shoot Out final that Allen won recently.
A qualifying round is scheduled to take place in Barnsley from January 25–27. Stephen Hendry will compete against Ross Muir, Jimmy White against Dominic Dale, and Stuart Bingham against Marco Fu.
Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson will play Mark Davis, and in order to advance to the final 64, Stephen Maguire must defeat Si Jiahui.
Leave a Reply