2022 European Masters

2022 BetVictor European Masters

Tournament information
Dates	21–27 February 2022 (2022-02-21 – 2022-02-27)
Venue	Marshall Arena
City	Milton Keynes
Country	England
Organisation	World Snooker Tour
Format	Ranking 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)
Score	10–9
← 2020 (2)

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]

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. 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.^[13]

Prize fund[]

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

Main draw[]

Top half[]

	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 Brown	5
					Jordan Brown	5
					Xiao Guodong (32)	0
	Xiao Guodong (32)	5
	Andy Hicks	2
									Jordan Brown	2
									Graeme Dott (17)	5
	Zhou Yuelong (16)	5
	Gao Yang	1
					Zhou Yuelong (16)	4
					Graeme Dott (17)	5
	Graeme Dott (17)	5
	Mark Davis	4
													Graeme Dott (17)	5
													Ryan Day (25)	4
	Luca Brecel	5
	Gary Wilson (24)	3
					Luca Brecel	4
					Sunny Akani	5
	Jackson Page	3
	Sunny Akani	5
									Sunny Akani	2
									Ryan Day (25)	5
	Jamie O'Neill	1
	Ryan Day (25)	5
					Ryan Day (25)	5
					Ashley Carty	4
	Soheil Vahedi	2
	Ashley Carty	5
																	Graeme Dott (17)	4
																	Fan Zhengyi	6
	Kyren Wilson (5)	5
	Jamie Jones	2
					Kyren Wilson (5)	4
					Fan Zhengyi	5
	Aaron Hill	3
	Fan Zhengyi	5
									Fan Zhengyi	5
									Yan Bingtao (12)	3
	Yan Bingtao (12)	5
	Li Hang	1
					Yan Bingtao (12)	5
					Joe Perry (21)	2
	Joe Perry (21)	5
	Cao Yupeng	2
													Fan Zhengyi	5
													David Gilbert (20)	3
	Liam Highfield	4
	David Gilbert (20)	5
					David Gilbert (20)	5
					Barry Hawkins (13)	4
	Anthony Hamilton	3
	Barry Hawkins (13)	5
									David Gilbert (20)	5
									Pang Junxu	3
	Xu Si	4
	Pang Junxu	5
					Pang Junxu	5
					Neil Robertson (4)	4
	Alfie Burden	0
	Neil Robertson (4)	5

Bottom half[]

	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 Anda	4
					Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)	5
					Wu Yize	1
	Wu Yize	5
	Fergal O'Brien	3
									Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)	5
									Ashley Hugill	2
	Jack Lisowski (14)	3
	Ashley Hugill	5
					Ashley Hugill	5
					Ali Carter (19)	1
	Ali Carter (19)	5
	Sean Maddocks	1
													Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)	5
													Tom Ford (27)	1
	Louis Heathcote	3
	Martin Gould (22)	5
					Martin Gould (22)	4
					Fraser Patrick	5
	Zhang Jiankang	3
	Fraser Patrick	5
									Fraser Patrick	3
									Tom Ford (27)	5
	Ian Burns	3
	Tom Ford (27)	5
					Tom Ford (27)	5
					John Higgins (6)	0
	Jamie Clarke	1
	John Higgins (6)	5
																	Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)	6
																	Liang Wenbo (26)	2
	Shaun Murphy (7)	3
	Noppon Saengkham	5
					Noppon Saengkham	0
					Liang Wenbo (26)	5
	Liang Wenbo (26)	5
	Duane Jones	4
									Liang Wenbo (26)	5
									Yuan Sijun	2
	Yuan Sijun	5
	Stuart Carrington	4
					Yuan Sijun	5
					Ricky Walden (23)	2
	Ricky Walden (23)	5
	Matthew Stevens	1
													Liang Wenbo (26)	5
													Anthony McGill (15)	4
	Mitchell Mann	5
	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (18)	0
					Mitchell Mann	1
					Anthony McGill (15)	5
	Hossein Vafaei	0
	Anthony McGill (15)	5
									Anthony McGill (15)	5
									Kurt Maflin (31)	3
	Andrew Higginson	4
	Kurt Maflin (31)	5
					Kurt Maflin (31)	5
					Judd Trump (2)	3
	Jak Jones	4
	Judd Trump (2)	5

Final[]

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 (57), 1–66, 81–0 (63), 78–28 (78), 38–72, 0–83 (83) Evening: 135–0 (135), 110–21 (110), 14–88, 36–69, 65–51, 74–31, 0–107 (107), 37–80, 82–0 (82), 23–90, 92–0 (92)
135	Highest break	107
2	Century breaks	1
7	50+ breaks	2

Qualifying[]

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.^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[16] Michael White also withdrew and was replaced by Simon Blackwell.

Century breaks[]

Main stage centuries[]

A total of 60 century breaks were made during the main event.^[17]

Qualifying stage centuries[]

A total of 40 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament.^[17][18]

Notes[]

References[]