2022 European Masters (2021–22 season)

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The 2022 European Masters (officially the 2022 BetVictor European Masters) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 21 to 27 February 2022 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The tournament was the 11th ranking event of the 2021–22 season and the sixth of eight tournaments in the season's European Series. The World Snooker Tour originally planned to stage the event at the Stadthalle Fürth in Fürth, Germany, but relocated it to the UK after increasing rates of COVID-19 in Bavaria led to greater restrictions around sporting events.[1][2] The tournament was broadcast by Eurosport in Europe, and by other networks worldwide.[3]

2022 BetVictor European Masters
Tournament information
Dates21–27 February 2022 (2022-02-21 – 2022-02-27)
VenueMarshall Arena
CityMilton Keynes
CountryEngland
OrganisationWorld Snooker Tour
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£407,000
Winner's share£80,000
Highest break Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) (144)
Final
Champion Fan Zhengyi (CHN)
Runner-up Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Score10–9

Mark Selby was the defending champion, having defeated Martin Gould 9–8 in the final of the tournament's September 2020 edition.[4] However, Selby lost 3–5 to Jordan Brown in the round of 64.[5] Many other top seeds also suffered early exits, with only three top-16 players reaching the round of 16.[6] World number 80 Fan Zhengyi reached his first ranking final by defeating higher-ranked opponents Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, David Gilbert, and Graeme Dott.[7] Six-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the 60th ranking final of his career.[8][9]

The best-of-19-frame final between O'Sullivan and Fan was played over two sessions on 27 February. O'Sullivan fell two frames behind at 2–4, 4–6, and 6–8, but drew level each time. Fan took a 9–8 lead, but O'Sullivan again drew level to force a deciding frame. After O'Sullivan missed a long red in the decider, Fan made a 92 break to win the match 10–9 and capture his first ranking title.[10][11][7] He became the fifth Chinese player to win a ranking event, after Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo, Yan, and Zhao Xintong, as well as the fourth player to win a maiden ranking title in the 2021–22 season, following David Gilbert, Zhao, and Hossein Vafaei.[12] His £80,000 prize money for winning the tournament took him from 80th to 31st in the world rankings.[12]

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made the highest break of the tournament, a 144, during his qualifying match against Chen Zifan.[13] Neil Robertson compiled a record-equalling four consecutive centuries in his last-64 match against Alfie Burden, becoming the first player to accomplish this feat twice in professional competition. He previously made four consecutive centuries against Ahmed Saif at a European Tour event in 2013.[14]

Prize fund

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The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:

  • Winner: £80,000
  • Runner-up: £35,000
  • Semi-final: £17,500
  • Quarter-final: £11,000
  • Last 16: £6,000
  • Last 32: £4,000
  • Last 64: £3,000
  • Highest break: £5,000
  • Total: £407,000

Main draw

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Top half

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Last 64
Best of 9 frames
Last 32
Best of 9 frames
Last 16
Best of 9 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
 
                  
 
 
 
 
  Mark Selby (1)3
 
 
 
  Jordan Brown5
 
  Jordan Brown5
 
 
 
  Xiao Guodong (32)0
 
  Xiao Guodong (32)5
 
 
 
  Andy Hicks2
 
  Jordan Brown2
 
 
 
  Graeme Dott (17)5
 
  Zhou Yuelong (16)5
 
 
 
  Gao Yang1
 
  Zhou Yuelong (16)4
 
 
 
  Graeme Dott (17)5
 
  Graeme Dott (17)5
 
 
 
  Mark Davis4
 
  Graeme Dott (17)5
 
 
 
  Ryan Day (25)4
 
  Luca Brecel5
 
 
 
  Gary Wilson (24)3
 
  Luca Brecel4
 
 
 
  Sunny Akani5
 
  Jackson Page3
 
 
 
  Sunny Akani5
 
  Sunny Akani2
 
 
 
  Ryan Day (25)5
 
  Jamie O'Neill1
 
 
 
  Ryan Day (25)5
 
  Ryan Day (25)5
 
 
 
  Ashley Carty4
 
  Soheil Vahedi2
 
 
 
  Ashley Carty5
 
  Graeme Dott (17)4
 
 
 
  Fan Zhengyi6
 
  Kyren Wilson (5)5
 
 
 
  Jamie Jones2
 
  Kyren Wilson (5)4
 
 
 
  Fan Zhengyi5
 
  Aaron Hill3
 
 
 
  Fan Zhengyi5
 
  Fan Zhengyi5
 
 
 
  Yan Bingtao (12)3
 
  Yan Bingtao (12)5
 
 
 
  Li Hang1
 
  Yan Bingtao (12)5
 
 
 
  Joe Perry (21)2
 
  Joe Perry (21)5
 
 
 
  Cao Yupeng2
 
  Fan Zhengyi5
 
 
 
  David Gilbert (20)3
 
  Liam Highfield4
 
 
 
  David Gilbert (20)5
 
  David Gilbert (20)5
 
 
 
  Barry Hawkins (13)4
 
  Anthony Hamilton3
 
 
 
  Barry Hawkins (13)5
 
  David Gilbert (20)5
 
 
 
  Pang Junxu3
 
  Xu Si4
 
 
 
  Pang Junxu5
 
  Pang Junxu5
 
 
 
  Neil Robertson (4)4
 
  Alfie Burden0
 
 
  Neil Robertson (4)5
 

Bottom half

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Last 64
Best of 9 frames
Last 32
Best of 9 frames
Last 16
Best of 9 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
 
                  
 
 
 
 
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)5
 
 
 
  Zhang Anda4
 
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)5
 
 
 
  Wu Yize1
 
  Wu Yize5
 
 
 
  Fergal O'Brien3
 
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)5
 
 
 
  Ashley Hugill2
 
  Jack Lisowski (14)3
 
 
 
  Ashley Hugill5
 
  Ashley Hugill5
 
 
 
  Ali Carter (19)1
 
  Ali Carter (19)5
 
 
 
  Sean Maddocks1
 
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)5
 
 
 
  Tom Ford (27)1
 
  Louis Heathcote3
 
 
 
  Martin Gould (22)5
 
  Martin Gould (22)4
 
 
 
  Fraser Patrick5
 
  Zhang Jiankang3
 
 
 
  Fraser Patrick5
 
  Fraser Patrick3
 
 
 
  Tom Ford (27)5
 
  Ian Burns3
 
 
 
  Tom Ford (27)5
 
  Tom Ford (27)5
 
 
 
  John Higgins (6)0
 
  Jamie Clarke1
 
 
 
  John Higgins (6)5
 
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)6
 
 
 
  Liang Wenbo (26)2
 
  Shaun Murphy (7)3
 
 
 
  Noppon Saengkham5
 
  Noppon Saengkham0
 
 
 
  Liang Wenbo (26)5
 
  Liang Wenbo (26)5
 
 
 
  Duane Jones4
 
  Liang Wenbo (26)5
 
 
 
  Yuan Sijun2
 
  Yuan Sijun5
 
 
 
  Stuart Carrington4
 
  Yuan Sijun5
 
 
 
  Ricky Walden (23)2
 
  Ricky Walden (23)5
 
 
 
  Matthew Stevens1
 
  Liang Wenbo (26)5
 
 
 
  Anthony McGill (15)4
 
  Mitchell Mann5
 
 
 
  Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (18)0
 
  Mitchell Mann1
 
 
 
  Anthony McGill (15)5
 
  Hossein Vafaei0
 
 
 
  Anthony McGill (15)5
 
  Anthony McGill (15)5
 
 
 
  Kurt Maflin (31)3
 
  Andrew Higginson4
 
 
 
  Kurt Maflin (31)5
 
  Kurt Maflin (31)5
 
 
 
  Judd Trump (2)3
 
  Jak Jones4
 
 
  Judd Trump (2)5
 

Final

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Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Leo Scullion
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, England, 27 February 2022
Fan Zhengyi
  China
10–9 Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)
  England
Afternoon: 6–66, 68–1, 77–46, 1–66, 81–0, 78–28, 38–72, 0–83
Evening: 135–0 (135), 110–21 (110), 14–88, 36–69, 65–51, 74–31, 0–107 (107), 37–80, 82–0, 23–90, 92–0
135 Highest break 107
2 Century breaks 1

Qualifying

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Qualifying for the event took place between 27 and 31 October 2021 at the Chase Leisure Centre in Cannock, England. Qualifying matches involving the top four ranked players were held over to be played at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.[15]

Mark Williams was due to take part in qualifying, but withdrew from the event due to a positive COVID-19 test and was replaced by Mark Lloyd.[16] Sam Craigie withdrew due to injury, and his place in the draw was taken by James Cahill. However, Cahill immediately had to withdraw after producing a positive COVID-19 test. As no other players were available to be entered at short notice, Soheil Vahedi received a bye.[17] Michael White also withdrew and was replaced by Simon Blackwell.

Century breaks

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Main stage centuries

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A total of 60 century breaks were made during the main event.[18]

Qualifying stage centuries

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A total of 40 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament.[18][19]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Match held over and played in Milton Keynes.

References

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  1. ^ "Snooker's BetVictor European Masters To Be Staged In Milton Keynes". World Snooker Tour. 23 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-23.
  2. ^ "BetVictor European Masters". World Snooker. Retrieved 2022-02-21.Archived 2020-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "How To Watch The BetVictor European Masters". World Snooker. 2022-02-17. Archived from the original on February 17, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  4. ^ "Mark Selby holds off Martin Gould fightback to win European Masters". Eurosport UK. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  5. ^ "European Masters 2022: Mark Selby crashes out to Jordan Brown, Ronnie O'Sullivan holds off Zhang to reach next round". Eurosport UK. 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  6. ^ "Robertson Stopped By Sharp Pang". World Snooker. 2022-02-24. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  7. ^ a b "Fan beats O'Sullivan 10-9 in final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  8. ^ "Fab Fan Downs Dott To Reach Final". World Snooker. 2022-02-26. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  9. ^ "O'Sullivan Reaches 60th Ranking Final". World Snooker. 2022-02-26. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  10. ^ "European Masters snooker 2022 - Fan Zhengyi holds nerve to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in decider". Eurosport. 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  11. ^ "Snooker results: Fan Zhengyi beats Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-9 in the European Masters final". www.sportinglife.com. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  12. ^ a b "China's Fan Stuns O'Sullivan In Dramatic Final". World Snooker. 2022-02-27. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  13. ^ "Where the money went". Snooker Scene. No. April 2022. p. 11.
  14. ^ "Robertson Narrowly Misses Snooker History". World Snooker. 2022-02-22. Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  15. ^ "BetVictor European Masters Qualifiers Draw". World Snooker Tour. 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021.
  16. ^ "Williams Withdraws From European Masters And English Open". World Snooker Tour. 27 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27.
  17. ^ "Craigie Withdraws From BetVictor European Masters Qualifying". World Snooker Tour. 27 October 2021. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021.
  18. ^ a b "BetVictor European Masters 2022 | Centuries". World Snooker Tour. 21–27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  19. ^ "BetVictor European Masters 2022 Qualifiers | Centuries". World Snooker Tour. 27–31 October 2021. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2021.