2022 European Masters (2021–22 Season)

The February 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. The tournament was broadcast by Eurosport in Europe, and by other networks worldwide.

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

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. 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. His £80,000 prize money for winning the tournament took him from 80th to 31st in the world rankings.

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.

Prize fund

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

Top half

Bottom half

Final

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.

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. 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. Michael White also withdrew and was replaced by Simon Blackwell.

* (1) 5–3 Match held over and played in Milton Keynes.
* 5–2
* (32) 5–0
* 4–5
* (16) 5–2
* 2–5
* (17) 5–3
* 5–3
* 5–1
* (24) 5–1
* 3–5
* (9) 4–5
* 5–1
* (25) 5–2
* w/d–w/o
* (8) 1–5
* (5) 5–2
* 5–4
* (28) 4–5
* 5–3
* (12) 5–2
* 3–5
* (21) 5–4
* 5–3
* 0–5
* (20) 5–4
* 5–3
* (13) 5–0
* 5–1
* (29) 4–5
* 5–0
* (4) 5–2
* (3) 5–1
* 3–5
* (30) 4–5
* 3–5
* (14) 5–2
* 1–5
* (19) 5–2
* 5–0
* 2–5
* (22) 5–0
* 5–4
* (11) 3–5
* 1–5
* (27) 5–3
* 5–3
* (6) 5–4
* (7) 5–2
* 5–0
* (26) 5–2
* 2–5
* 4–5
* 3–5
* (23) 5–4
* 0–5
* 4–5
* (18) 5–3
* 0–5
* (15) 5–0
* 0–5
* (31) 5–2
* 5–2
* (2) 5–0

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

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

* 141, 136, 132, 128, 127, 112, 109, 109, 107, 105 Ronnie O'Sullivan
* 140, 131, 124, 120 Liang Wenbo
* 135, 131, 125, 117, 110 Fan Zhengyi
* 134, 134, 124 Anthony McGill
* 132 Gary Wilson
* 131 Jamie Jones
* 130 Jack Lisowski
* 128, 115 Jak Jones
* 128 Mark Selby
* 128 Xiao Guodong
* 127 Tom Ford
* 127 Andrew Higginson
* 124, 100 Judd Trump
* 122 Noppon Saengkham
* 118 Jordan Brown
* 117 Ryan Day
* 116, 107, 105, 104, 101, 100 Neil Robertson
* 114 Ricky Walden
* 114 Zhang Anda
* 112, 100 Wu Yize
* 111, 105, 103 Kurt Maflin
* 111 Yan Bingtao
* 110, 101 Pang Junxu
* 109 Jackson Page
* 105, 100 David Gilbert
* 102 Yuan Sijun
* 101, 100 Kyren Wilson
* 101 Luca Brecel
* 101 Stuart Carrington
* 101 Soheil Vahedi

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 40 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament.

* 144 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
* 141, 131 Ryan Day
* 141 Kurt Maflin
* 138 Mark Davis
* 138 Jack Lisowski
* 136 Mark Allen
* 136 Lu Ning
* 135 Sunny Akani
* 134, 127 Shaun Murphy
* 134, 106 Xu Si
* 134 Liam Highfield
* 132 Yuan Sijun
* 131 Ken Doherty
* 130 Neil Robertson
* 129 Elliot Slessor
* 129 Judd Trump
* 128 Mark Selby
* 123 John Higgins
* 122 Jamie Clarke
* 120 Mitchell Mann
* 118 Jordan Brown
* 117 Graeme Dott
* 115 Michael Holt
* 113 Matthew Selt
* 112 Ashley Hugill
* 112 Zhang Anda
* 111 Mark Lloyd
* 110 Zhao Jianbo
* 108, 104 Barry Hawkins
* 108 David Grace
* 104, 100 David Gilbert
* 102 Noppon Saengkham
* 101 Jackson Page
* 101 Ben Woollaston

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:European Masters, 2022
2022
European Masters (1)
European Masters (1)
European Masters
Sport in Milton Keynes
Snooker competitions in England
European Series