Fedor Gorst revealed a condition that he suffers from in higher humidity conditions as the reasoning behind him conceding his last 64 match against James Aranas at the Hanoi Open Championship.
Gorst approached Aranas and handed him the game at five apiece in their main table contest on Friday morning, with the Filipino later admitting that he knew something was amiss with the world number one and reigning world champion.
The US Open champion candidly opened up on his condition that occurs in warm environments and causes ‘shortness of breath and darkening of vision’, something that he has previously experienced when competing in Spain last year.
Gorst also graciously apologised to both his opponent and the thousands of Vietnamese fans who flocked to Hanoi to watch the world number one, admitting that his health had to take precedence.
“Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their support and well wishes today,” Gorst began in a Facebook status. “I’m okay now, but I’d like to apologise to my opponent James Aranas for the way the match ended.
“Right from the start of the match I was feeling unwell. I’ve dealt with a condition throughout my life where, in environments with higher humidity, I experience shortness of breath, weakness, and darkening of vision.
“I’ve encountered this before, including at last year’s Spanish Open. Today, those symptoms hit me hard, and it felt like I was on the verge of passing out during most of the game, but my competitive side pushed me to continue.
“I took a timeout, went outside to get a cold drink, and the referee gave me a fan to wear around my neck. It helped for a couple of games, but after sitting between shots, the symptoms came back. Every time I stood up and bent down to take a shot, my vision would black out, and I felt like I might faint.
“After the match, I went back to the hotel and saw a doctor who checked my blood pressure and overall condition. I’m now resting in my room and physically feeling more like myself, but it’s still tough to process everything that happened today.
“It’s never in me to give up, and I feel like I’ve let myself down by conceding the match. But in that moment, I had to prioritise my health. This wasn’t the situation I wanted to experience, but I appreciate everyone’s understanding and support.
“It’s also a relief to finally share this condition with all of you – it’s something I’ve been dealing with for a long time, and today showed me I need to better understand how to manage it. I look forward to coming back stronger.”
