Nathan Aspinall has withdrawn from the 2022 Ladbrokes Masters and will be replaced by Devon Petersen.
Aspinall has been suffering with an ongoing problem in both the elbow and wrist of his throwing arm in recent months and competed in December’s World Championship wearing medical tape.
The former UK Open champion has now withdrawn from this weekend’s Masters in order to undergo further treatment on the injury.
South Africa’s Petersen takes Aspinall’s place in the draw as the next ranked non-qualified player and will face Luke Humphries in Friday night’s opening round.
A statement released by Aspinall said: ‘As you may not be aware, during the European Championship last year, Nathan felt what can only be described as a ‘pop’ in his right arm.
‘Not thinking much of it, as he has had slight niggles in the past, he carried on. However, over the proceeding month the pain increased dramatically so he sought professional advice and was diagnosed with Acute Tendinitis accompanied with Tennis Elbow.
‘Thankfully, his treatment for tennis elbow has been successful, however the tendinitis, despite rest as advised, is still causing discomfort and after seeing the specialist he has been advised to unfortunately withdraw from The Masters this weekend.
‘Nathan is undergoing further treatment this week and whilst no player likes to withdraw from any event, the focus has to be to get fit and ready for the busy year ahead.’
The 2022 Masters takes place from January 28-30 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes and will feature 24 players competing for the season’s first televised silverware.
Players ranked 9-24 will start out in the First Round, while players ranked 1-8 will enter the tournament at the Second Round stage on Saturday January 29.
The event concludes on Sunday January 30 with the Quarter-Finals in the afternoon session and the Semi-Finals and final in the evening.
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Friday January 28
First Round
7pm-11pm
Krzysztof Ratajski v Gabriel Clemens
Dave Chisnall v Stephen Bunting
Ryan Searle v Mervyn King
Rob Cross v Brendan Dolan
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ian White
Joe Cullen v Daryl Gurney
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Simon Whitlock
Devon Petersen v Luke Humphries
Saturday January 29
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12.45pm-5pm)
Jose de Sousa v Cross/Dolan
Gary Anderson v Cullen/Gurney
Michael Smith v Ratajski/Clemens
James Wade v Chisnall/Bunting
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Jonny Clayton v Van den Bergh/White
Gerwyn Price v Searle/King
Peter Wright v Van Duijvenbode/Whitlock
Michael van Gerwen v Petersen/Humphries
Sunday January 30
Afternoon Session (12.45pm-5pm)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Semi-Finals
Final
Nathan Aspinall has withdrawn from the 2022 Ladbrokes Masters and will be replaced by Devon Petersen. Aspinall has been suffering…
