Neil Robertson has revealed that an ongoing injury issue saw him withdraw from this week’s Scottish Open in Edinburgh.
The world number three won this event back in 2017 and would have gone in as one of the favourites this week, having won the Saudi Arabia Masters this season and made the semi-finals of the recent UK Championship.
However, he was one of a quartet of withdrawals shortly before the tournament began, along with Mark Williams, Jak Jones and Robert Milkins.
World Snooker Tour did not confirm why the four players were not competing in Edinburgh but the Australian has now revealed that an injury has been hampering him for some time.
Robertson wrote on X: ‘I have strained my piriformis and injured my disc.
‘Been playing with discomfort for the last few comps. Making sure I’m right for the new year with treatment.’
The piriformis is a muscle in the buttock, with Piriformis Syndrome an issue which can be very painful if the muscle spasms, tightens or is strained.
Williams did not say why he is not playing in Edinburgh, posting on X: ‘No one needs to [know why] you have pulled out really, private.’
He did point out that it is rare for him to skip tournaments, adding: ‘You can count how many comps I pulled out of on two hands in 30 years.’
Players do not have to compete in every tournament on the tour, by any means, with a busy schedule over the season and it is understandable for Williams at 50 years old not to play in everything.
Another 50-year-old is in Edinburgh, though, with John Higgins getting his campaign underway with a 4-2 win over Poland’s Antoni Kowalski.
The four-time world champion took some time to get going in the match but made a high break of 104 to book his spot in the second round where he takes on Noppon Saengkham on Wednesday.
The Wizard of Wishaw played down his performance, talking up the 21-year-old’s safety game, which impressed against the famously tough match player.
‘Very lucky to win. Antoni was outplaying me in the safety department and tying me up in knots,’ he told WST. ‘I think I fluked about four or five crucial balls during that game. That was the reason I probably won.
‘Really nice, great to have the support [at his home event]. I’m just disappointed I couldn’t play well to make them come out on a Monday afternoon. Listen, we’ll see what happens in the next match. I’ll need to play better than that.’
There was disappointment for another local hope as Stephen Maguire was beaten 4-2 by Chang Bingyu late on Monday night.
Chang recovered from 2-1 behind, with breaks of 102 and 55 in the final two frames helping him to victory.
Arguably the shock of the day came earlier in the day as two-time Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson was beaten 4-1 by 17-year-old Chinese talent Lan Yuhao.
The teenager has been impressive in his first season as a professional and that is one of his finest wins, knocking in breaks of 51, 112 and 60 on his way to victory.
He already won two qualifying matches to reach the main stage in Edinburgh and takes on Wu Yize in the next round.
Scottish Open results and schedule
Monday December 15
10am
Lei Peifan 4-3 Amir Sarkhosh
Zhang Anda 4-1 Fan Zhengyi
1pm
Yuan Sijun vs Ben Woollaston
Wu Yize 4-0 Ian Burns
Gary Wilson 1-4 Lan Yuhao
John Higgins 4-2 Antoni Kowalski
3pm
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Artemijs Zizins
Shaun Murphy 4-3 Liu Hongyu
Noppon Saengkham 4-3 Liam Pullen
7pm
Matt Selt 4-2 Ryan Day
Si Jiahui 4-3 Mark Davis
Joe O’Connor 4-3 Stan Moody
9pm
Stephen Maguire 4-2 Chang Bingyu
Tuesday December 16
10am
Ali Carter 2-4 Zak Surety
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Michael Holt
1pm
Tom Ford vs Anthony McGill
Hossein Vafaei vs David Grace
Zhou Yuelong vs Sam Craigie
3pm
Elliot Slessor v Steven Hallworth
Mark Selby v Robbie McGuigan
Pang Junxu v Robbie Williams
Barry Hawkins v Jiang Jun
7pm
Jack Lisowski v Wang Yuchen
Jackson Page v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
David Gilbert v Ashley Hugill
Kyren Wilson v Gao Yang
Not before 8pm
Mark Allen v Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Chris Wakelin v Oliver Lines
Wednesday December 17
Round Two
Lei Peifan vs Yuan Sijun
Wakelin/Lines vs Ford/McGill
Stuart Bingham vs Shaun Murphy
Zhou/Craigie vs Xiao/Holt
Ben Mertens vs Page/Un-Nooh
Hawkins/Jiang vs Gilbert/Hugill
Wu Yize vs Lan Yuhao
Matt Selt vs He Guoqiang
K Wilson/Gao vs Pang/R Williams
Si Jiahui vs Chang Bingyu
Vafaei/Grace vs Selby/McGuigan
Noppon Saengkham vs John Higgins
Allen/Chadha vs Lisowski/Wang
Zhang Anda vs Matthew Stevens
Slessor/Hallworth vs Zak Surety
Joe O’Connor vs Zhao Xintong