Ahead of the start of the Haikou World Open this Monday, it has been announced that recent German Masters winner Ali Carter has been forced to withdraw from the tournament on medical grounds, related to his ongoing battle with Crohn’s disease.
Hopefully Ali will be fighting fit in the near future and in particular ahead of his next scheduled tournament, the PTC Grand Finals, where he is set to meet John Higgins at the last 32 stage.
Ali’s withdrawal means that over in Haikou, the winner of the wildcard round contest between Nigel Bond and Zhu Yinghui, will receive a bye to the last 16.