anthony hamilton

Thursday 30 Jul 2020 03:48PM
Anthony Hamilton has decided to withdraw from the Betfred World Championship for medical reasons.

Hamilton came through the qualifying rounds, winning two matches, but subsequently decided to pull out of the event as he suffers from chronic asthma.

He had been due to face Kyren Wilson in the last 32 at the Crucible on Friday afternoon, with the second session on Saturday evening. Wilson now receives a bye to the last 16.

“It has been a really difficult decision for me,” said 49-year-old Hamilton, from Nottingham. “I was extremely impressed by the way that WST and their partners ran the qualifying rounds, they made the players feel totally safe. And I realise they have followed all of the government guidelines and implemented extensive measures for the main event at the Crucible. However due to my health condition, after careful consideration I have decided not to play in the final stages.

“I want to apologise to my opponents at the qualifiers, Sam Craigie and Scott Donaldson, and assure them that I had every intention of playing at the Crucible. But it was only after I finished the qualifying rounds that I was able to do a full personal risk assessment based on the latest information and discussions with WST.

“I am absolutely gutted not to be playing because it is the best tournament and the Crucible is the home of snooker. I wish everyone the best and hope the event is a great success.”

World number 48 Hamilton will receive the £20,000 he earned by reaching the last 32 and that will count towards his world ranking.

What a runt Hamilton is, denying the other qualifiers a chance when he knew all along what was happening. For once I agree with Hearn, and worst of all boring old man Wilson gets a bye

Lou147 wrote:What a runt Hamilton is, denying the other qualifiers a chance when he knew all along what was happening. For once I agree with Hearn, and worst of all boring old man Wilson gets a bye

Good to see another addition to the "Hamilton is in the wrong" camp

Lou147 wrote:What a runt Hamilton is, denying the other qualifiers a chance when he knew all along what was happening. For once I agree with Hearn, and worst of all boring old man Wilson gets a bye

Donaldson and Craigie both had a chance to beat Hamilton, they failed too and therefore deserve to be sat at home. Hamilton has assessed the conditions after qualifying and they are different to what he expected.

Respect to Hamilton for a rough decision to make. At least he went through with it - unlike other players who threatened to pull out.

If this had been Judd pulling out he would be praised.

Nice to see him calm down a bit after his rant on Radio Nottingham yesterday.

He knew what the plan for the Crucible was during qualifying, he should have pulled out then.

He has robbed Sam Craigie of a possible debut and Scott Donaldson of a possible second crucible appearance.

31 players in the last 32, the integrity of this tournament is in pieces before its started

I dunno man. He’s entitled to change his mind and put himself first, and it sounds like he made the decision after getting new indo from WST. Maybe he panicked having seem what his friend went through and decided he couldn’t go through with the risk. There’s nothing wrong with that.

He earned his spot in the last 32 and as I said elsewhere he probably didn’t even expect to qualify anyway given his record in the previous 11 years. It’s easier to think, “Ah I’ll just play,” when you don’t think there’s much of a realistic chance of getting there. I’m inclined to believe him that he expected to play until after he qualified.

It’s unfortunate but I don’t blame him. I blame the people who decided to have a crowd, if anyone.

But for what it’s worth, I think Judd would get pilloried on here if he did the same thing.

Scooper wrote:

Lou147 wrote:31 players in the last 32, the integrity of this tournament is in pieces before its started

Hearn knew the chance of this when deciding to let a crowd in. But of course according to him it’s the players in the wrong, not him. Perish the thought

Yeah. I don’t believe he brought a crowd in for any reason other than to say that he could.

Iranu wrote:

Scooper wrote:

Lou147 wrote:31 players in the last 32, the integrity of this tournament is in pieces before its started

Hearn knew the chance of this when deciding to let a crowd in. But of course according to him it’s the players in the wrong, not him. Perish the thought

Yeah. I don’t believe he brought a crowd in for any reason other than to say that he could.

I don't think anyone doubts that, just feels like its been ruined already. Especially with pirate boy getting a bye, would've liked to see Hamilton beat him

It's not the first time there has been a withdrawal. Other sports regularly have to contend with players getting injured. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is, and everybody just has to carry on. I probably wouldn't have had spectators, but it isn't me making the (difficult) decisions.

On Twitter, Burden confirms that fans not wearing masks wasn’t confirmed before the qualifiers. Snookerbacker adds that apparently temperatures won’t be taken either, which seems like an unnecessary oversight for something so simple.

Iranu wrote:On Twitter, Burden confirms that fans not wearing masks wasn’t confirmed before the qualifiers. Snookerbacker adds that apparently temperatures won’t be taken either, which seems like an unnecessary oversight for something so simple.

Qualifiers started on the 21st, tickets and event details on the Crucible were released a day after which was stupid.

https://wst.tv/crucible-tickets-on-sale-thursday/

All details were released through that article.

I doubt he'll ever get back to the Crucible. It's a shame.

OK - so Hamilton then knew that fans would be not be wearing masks (or should have known).

The_Abbott wrote:

Lou147 wrote:What a runt Hamilton is, denying the other qualifiers a chance when he knew all along what was happening. For once I agree with Hearn, and worst of all boring old man Wilson gets a bye

Donaldson and Craigie both had a chance to beat Hamilton, they failed too and therefore deserve to be sat at home. Hamilton has assessed the conditions after qualifying and they are different to what he expected.

Respect to Hamilton for a rough decision to make. At least he went through with it - unlike other players who threatened to pull out.

If this had been Judd pulling out he would be praised.

That's kind of how I see it.

Maybe he should have assessed the criteria before entering the qualifiers, but you know. Oversights happen. It's a shame, but his and his family's health has to come first.

And like you say, the other players lost so they're out. They weren't up to it at the end of the day. It's a shame that one match is missing and another player missed out. But a couple of months ago we didn't even know if this tournament is happening at all.

For what it's worth, I don't think there should be fans there either.

What Liang did was worse than what Hamilton’s done. I’d be more interested in Hearn’s opinion on that.

Dan-cat wrote:I doubt he'll ever get back to the Crucible. It's a shame.

I doubt we will see Hamilton again if crowds are allowed at the home nations events. Maybe he may think of retiring over this.

Barry, give a WC randomly to Jimmy.

i like Hamilton a lot and was really pleased when he won his ranker.

I won't miss watching him though.

Badsnookerplayer wrote:i like Hamilton a lot and was really pleased when he won his ranker.

I won't miss watching him though.

You'll be cheering for Selby though

I'm glad we didn't have an Anthony Hamilton Watch thread.

eraserhead wrote:

Badsnookerplayer wrote:i like Hamilton a lot and was really pleased when he won his ranker.

I won't miss watching him though.

You'll be cheering for Selby though

Yeah - not if he plays 6 minute shots I won't

Badsnookerplayer wrote:

eraserhead wrote:

Badsnookerplayer wrote:i like Hamilton a lot and was really pleased when he won his ranker.

I won't miss watching him though.

You'll be cheering for Selby though

Yeah - not if he plays 6 minute shots I won't

I was hoping there would be no crowds just to see if he'd look to the balcony out of habit. Thanks Hearn

Hamilton is right. Even if he knew he was going to withdraw if he qualified it is within his rights. Hearn is a psycho. The World Championship should not have been held this year.

Scooper wrote:I made the mistake of looking at Hearn’s twitter ‘debate’ with people about this. Good god, people like him shouldn’t be allowed on the computers.