The 2022 Snooker Turkish Masters is highly anticipated by fans, with a new tournament added this season to be held in Antalya from March 7 to March 13, marking the first time in Turkey's history that a snooker tournament has been held.
The Turkish Masters not only made many fans look forward to it, but also naturally favored by most players, after all, everyone wants to win the first championship trophy in the new event, and the total prize money of the event is 500,000 pounds and the temptation of the championship prize of 100,000 pounds is still very large.
However, just as the tournament was about to start, snooker officials released a not-so-good news, world number one Mark Selby and world number four Neil Robertson announced that they would not travel to Turkey for personal reasons to officially withdraw from the game.
The sudden news undoubtedly disappointed many fans, bearing in mind that Selby and Robertson had confirmed that they would participate in the postponement of the qualifying match during the main tournament, but just as the game was about to start, the news of the withdrawal came.
Earlier, Ronnie O'Sullivan also announced his withdrawal from the Turkish Open because of the appearance fee incident, while the official reason for Selby and Robertson was for personal reasons, so that the only player in the world's top four players was Judd Trump.
Selby's state decline so far this season is also due to his poor performance due to his depression, according to what Selby said in an interview before, and now his condition is deteriorating every day to control his condition through online treatment.
Robertson has been in hot form this season, although the Welsh Open lost to Trump, but at the beginning of the season has missed a few games in the case of three championships, as Robertson has said before that he will be targeted to participate in important events, it seems that this Turkish Open is not within his important competitions.
Just after the WST official website confirmed the authenticity of the two withdrawals, Robertson also publicly apologized to the fans: I regret to say sorry to the fans in Turkey, due to my personal reasons will withdraw from this event, I hope to meet with you next season, I wish this tournament a complete success.
Selby also apologizes to the fans: it's great to report snooker in a brand new place, but unfortunately the problems I'm facing right now are very difficult (Selby is battling depression) and I sincerely wish all the best for this tournament and for the players participating.
It can be seen that Selby is still suffering from depression on a daily basis, although he has insisted on playing while treating, but this is obviously not a long-term solution, and at present, Selby has not signed up for the next Gibraltar Open, and he has decided to take a good rest before the start of the World Championships.
With several top stars withdrawing from the Turkish Masters one after another, the Chinese snooker team can be said to have ushered in a good opportunity to win the championship, hoping that all Chinese players can win the fourth ranking championship of the season while ensuring their safety and health in a foreign country.