[WCOP] Team Philippines (Reyes / Biado) Withdraws

[straightline]

At 67 he would have been like a boat anchor around Biado's neck.

Team should have been Biado and Lee Van Corteza

In the youtubes he gets weight in nearly all the one on one matches. I don't get why they chose him. Sentimentality is big when it come to ER I suppose. Alex P woulda been a good choice too - if he qualifies as Pinoy lol.... Orcollo as well for that matter. There must be a dozen others who are veteran tourers as well.

 

[kling&allen]

What could Matchroom have done?

Six weeks ago tell him to (or help him) start his visa paperwork instead of being surprised 2 days ago that nothing had been done after promoting his appearance for weeks.

But as mentioned above who knows what actually happened.

 

[sjm]

At 67 he would have been like a boat anchor around Biado's neck.

Team should have been Biado and Lee Van Corteza

I agree that Biado/Reyes would have been dead money,

That said, since the last World Cup of Pool, Dennis Orcullo has been on fire, with several titles, a silver at the International 9-ball and a bronze at the US Open 9-ball. He remains the best Filippino player. Why would you take Lee Van over Dennis?

 

[mista335]

Six weeks ago tell him to (or help him) start his visa paperwork instead of being surprised 2 days ago that nothing had been done after promoting his appearance for weeks.

Promoters have never been responsible for players' visas or passports or anything.

Never have been. Never will.

 

[vjmehra]

Except the UK rules were well defined including requiring a COVID officer to navigate those rules. And that guidance explicitly said to consider the possibility of an unvaccinated elite athlete being required to quarantine from exposure during travel.

This was an excerpt from the same rules that caused Earl to not be able to participate.
View attachment 646375

True, but the rules were a bit weird here at the time, so even if vaccinated, a positive test for anyone on the plane would have led to the same outcome (you had to quarantine either way).

The only way to be sure of making it would have been to arrive 2 weeks earlier and stay in your hotel room (i.e. self quarantine to avoid forced quarantine)!

So in reality it was just bad luck and all they could do is have a reserve and hope!

 

[nparvus1202]

Matchroom should help with visas to Fastrack the application. This is a sports competition. According to Biado, Reyes applied but was given 3 weeks for a visa to be released. Biado asks a few other players with UK visas, but all have commitments.

 

[MattPoland]

True, but the rules were a bit weird here at the time, so even if vaccinated, a positive test for anyone on the plane would have led to the same outcome (you had to quarantine either way).

The only way to be sure of making it would have been to arrive 2 weeks earlier and stay in your hotel room (i.e. self quarantine to avoid forced quarantine)!

So in reality it was just bad luck and all they could do is have a reserve and hope!

That might have been true for typical international travelers. But Matchroom was operating under the elite sporting event rules. Vaccinated elite athletes traveling to an elite sporting event were allowed to participate and not self-isolate if they tested negative. Unvaccinated elite athletes had to quarantine. There were other Mosconi Cup players on that same flight as Earl.

So I’m reality it’s was bad planning. They could have checked Earl’s vaccination status in advance and either (A) required him to vaccinate or (B) required him to arrive early. That would have been taking the guidance into consideration properly. Instead they chose option (C) leave it to luck.

 

[kling&allen]

Promoters have never been responsible for players' visas or passports or anything.

Never have been. Never will.

No doubt. But Matchroom spent lots of money promoting Efren's appearance on social media to a global audience, which a lot different than a 1970s pool tournament. It was wasted money and effort that undermines their customer base.

I obviously don't know what actually happened and Matchroom nine ball probably doesn't have the money or resources to do anything different. But it's silly to compare the advertising campaign for this tournament to old tournaments that might have been promoted in the back of the local newspaper.

 

[vjmehra]

That might have been true for typical international travelers. But Matchroom was operating under the elite sporting event rules. Vaccinated elite athletes traveling to an elite sporting event were allowed to participate and not self-isolate if they tested negative. Unvaccinated elite athletes had to quarantine. There were other Mosconi Cup players on that same flight as Earl.

So I’m reality it’s was bad planning. They could have checked Earl’s vaccination status in advance and either (A) required him to vaccinate or (B) required him to arrive early. That would have been taking the guidance into consideration properly. Instead they chose option (C) leave it to luck.

Ah, that does change things a bit...I guess from their perspective they had the reserve so they sort of did have a plan B!