Williams, Murphy and Maguire among long list of Gibraltar Open withdrawals

Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire are among a growing number of players to have withdrawn from the 2022 Gibraltar Open.

A total of 17 players have now pulled out of the season’s 14th ranking event, which takes place from March 24-26 at the Europa Sports Complex.

Those who have withdrawn from the event have been replaced by various players from the 2021 Qualifying School Order of Merit.

Former World Champions Williams and Murphy and former UK Champion Maguire have been joined by the likes of Kurt Maflin, Anthony McGill and Sam Craigie in opting out of the trip to The Rock.

The 128-player field, however, does include the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen and defending champion Judd Trump.

It is believed the reasons for the withdrawals include travel and visa complications for a number of players, with some flights having been diverted to Malaga – more than 80 miles away – due to windy conditions.

The Gibraltar Open is the final event of the 2021/22 European Series, with the highest earner over the series scooping a £150,000 bonus.

Allen and Higgins are currently tied for the lead on £98,000 apiece, while Fan Zhengyi, Luca Brecel, Neil Robertson and O’Sullivan are all within £8,000 of the leaders.

Robertson, who has arrived in Gibraltar, revealed on Wednesday there are no practice tables at the venue for players.

You little rippa! No PRACTICE TABLES in Gibraltar so time to do some exploring??? pic.twitter.com/21nQWXImWr

— Neil Robertson (@nr147) March 23, 2022

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Gibraltar Open 2022 – List of withdrawals

Anthony McGill
Stephen Maguire
Sam Craigie
Alexander Ursenbacher
Simon Lichtenburg
Mark Williams
Michael Judge
Jamie O’Neill
Liam Highfield
Dean Young
Sean Harvey
Billy Castle
Shaun Murphy
Kurt Maflin
Zhang Jiankang
Fraser Patrick
Chang Bingyu