The players travel to Germany for the second ranking event of the snooker season this week – the European Masters in Furth.
It has been a slow start to the 2022/23 campaign, with Luca Brecel’s victory in the Championship League representing the only silverware captured so far.
The term will establish a little more momentum from now on, and it marks the first time that the Stadthalle will host a ranking tournament since the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic.
While the Championship League was played across various round-robin phases before a winner was eventually crowned after more than a month of action, the European Masters follows a more traditional snooker format.
Special sign-up promotions can be found with sites such as Paddy Power, which offer the chance to bet on your favourite players in this season’s European Masters and other snooker tournaments.
Prize, history, and format
This is the seventh edition of the European Masters and the first that will be held in Furth in Germany.
The competition has moved around the continent, commencing in Romania in 2016 before moving to Belgium, Austria, and England.
Judd Trump emerged victoriously from the first two events, with Jimmy Robertson and namesake Neil Robertson enjoying success in the following years.
In 2020, the European Masters endured an enforced relocation to Milton Keynes, where Mark Selby captured glory behind closed doors.
Earlier this year, Fan Zhengyi secured one of the all-time great upsets when he denied Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final with a 10-9 scoreline.
There is a traditional format in operation, with best-of-nine encounters all the way to the semi-finals that increases to the best of 11.
The final, which will see the winner pocket £80,000, will take place over 17 frames this time.
2022 European Masters draw
A qualifying round already took place in Leicester, meaning the majority of the last 64 is already known.
Ronnie O’Sullivan was supposed to be among a handful of players to have his preliminary match held over to the main venue.
But the reigning world champion announced that he would be withdrawing from the event for medical reasons.
Fan, Trump, and Selby are the only other competitors who will be forced to play one extra encounter if they are to challenge for the title again.
There were a few notable casualties in the qualifying stage, with John Higgins, Mark Allen, and Stephen Maguire all bowing out.
Still, the likes of Brecel, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, Zhao Xintong, and Yan Bingtao will be among the others attempting to obtain glory.
Last 64
Fan Zhengyi / Michael Judge vs Daniel Wells
Gary Wilson vs Lukas Kleckers
Anthony McGill vs Si Jiahui
Hossein Vafaei vs Xiao Guodong
Chris Wakelin vs Oliver Brown
Zhang Anda vs Shaun Murphy
Andy Hicks vs Jimmy Robertson
Lyu Haotian vs Kyren Wilson
Scott Donaldson w/o Chang Bingyu
Ryan Day vs Steven Hallworth
Luca Brecel vs Wu Yize
Haydon Pinhey vs Rory McLeod
James Cahill vs Ali Carter
Ian Burns vs Stuart Bingham
David Grace vs Michael White
Jackson Page vs Mark Selby / Yuan Sijun
Judd Trump / Noppon Saengkham vs Ashley Hugill
Oliver Lines vs Andrew Higginson
Farakh Ajaib vs Barry Pinches
Marco Fu w/o Lei Peifan
Stuart Carrington vs Jordan Brown
Aaron Hill vs Barry Hawkins
Jak Jones vs Robert Milkins
Zhao Xintong w/o Li Hang
Mark Williams vs Sanderson Lam
Dominic Dale vs Jimmy White
Jack Lisowski vs Matthew Stevens
Zhou Yuelong vs Graeme Dott
Mitchell Mann vs Ricky Walden
Dylan Emery vs Yan Bingtao
Anthony Hamilton vs Jamie Jones
Mark Joyce vs Luke Simmonds / Sean O’Sullivan
Where to watch the European Masters
Live coverage of the 2022 European Masters snooker schedule will be available in Ireland, Britain, and across Europe via Eurosport.
Other options are available for viewers around the world, which you can view by clicking here.
Featured photo credit: WPBSA
