Reigning world champions Fedor Gorst and Carlo Biado are amongst more than 200 players to have been banned by the World Pool Association following the Hanoi Open Championship in Vietnam.
Due to Matchroom’s Hanoi Open being eligible for WPA sanctioning but not seeking accreditation, the sport’s governing body have punished players for knowingly competing in a non-sanctioned tournament.
The WPA notably recognised this year’s US Open, European Open and UK Open without it being of Matchroom’s request, but they bewilderingly chose not to for the Vietnamese staging despite it being an identical event yet held in a different country.
Players will be forced to serve at least a six-month ban and pay a fine of $500 to their respective national federations should they wish to compete in WPA events again, while all their ranking points will be imminently removed from the WPA rankings.
Reigning world nineball champion Gorst and world 10-ball champion Biado headline the list of banned players, which also includes the likes of the Ko brothers, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Jayson Shaw, Wiktor Zielinski and Johann Chua.
More than 50 Vietnamese players have been banned for competing in their home tournament, which includes Reyes Cup star Duong Quoc Hoang, Nguyen Anh Tuan and Bui Truong An.
Despite banning 256 players, including four of the last five world 10-ball champions, the WPA have kept 22 of the top 32 players on their men’s rankings after they backed out of the Hanoi Open at short notice.
Predator have already taken action into their own hands by not sanctioning their Men’s Puerto Rico Open next month to ensure that the elite players who have been banned are still able to attend.
Players will not be banned by the WPA for travelling to Puerto Rico nonetheless as that event doesn’t require sanctioning due to it having $40,000 or less added prize money.
The WPA’s actions will create complications for next year’s world championships, especially Predator’s World 10-Ball Championship and World 8-Ball Championship, while Matchroom’s World Pool Championship will also be affected unless things change.
