The 2022 British Open commences on Monday with Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, and Mark Selby among those in the draw in Milton Keynes.
It has been a stagnated start to the 2022/23 season, and this represents only the third ranking event of the term so far.
Aside from the eight-player World Mixed Doubles, there’s been no action involving Main Tour players for a month.
Rustiness may play a part, which could open the door for some of the lower-ranked and unfancied contenders to contend at the Marshall Arena.
Prize, History, and Format
The British Open was once a staple on the Main Tour’s schedule, running annually from 1985 to 2004 at various popular venues such as the Assembly Rooms in Derby and the Plymouth Pavilions.
Most of the star names of that era ended up on the roll of honour, including Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, and Mark Williams.
The latter secured triumph upon the tournament’s return last year, taking home a cool £100,000 for his efforts in a 6-4 defeat of Gary Wilson in the final.
While the champion’s cheque remains the same in 2022 and the British Open draw is again random for each round, the format has been tweaked a little.
There was much ire surrounding last year’s short encounters, with best-of-five fixtures utilised in the earlier stages.
A more traditional format is in operation this time around, with seven frames required for every round up until the quarter-finals, which increase to the best of nine.
The semi-finals will subsequently be contested over eleven frames with a 19-frame title decider determining who lands the silverware next Sunday.
2022 British Open draw
An FA Cup style format lends itself to the prospect of plenty of intriguing ties as the rounds progress in Milton Keynes.
Many of the first round has already been played, with a preliminary stage held in August in Wigan.
The top 16 seeds have had their opening matches held over to the main venue, with world champion O’Sullivan’s first opponent being Alexander Ursenbacher.
Reigning champion Williams kicks off his defence against Andres Petrov, with last year’s beaten finalist Wilson in action against Shaun Murphy.
Two hard-to-call clashes include Mark Selby’s date with Ricky Walden and a match between a couple of last season’s ranking event winners in Joe Perry and Hossein Vafaei.
Judd Trump’s tie against up-and-coming Chinese star Si Jiahui is another possible match of intrigue to keep an eye on.
The likes of Ding Junhui, David Gilbert, Ryan Day, and Ng On Yee are already in the second-round draw after coming through their opening tests last month.
Most of the top stars are in the 2022 British Open draw, with Neil Robertson representing the only marquee name who decided to skip the competition.
Last 128
Matches held over:
Mark Allen vs Stuart Carrington
Alexander Ursenbacher vs Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ricky Walden vs Mark Selby
Duane Jones vs Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy vs Gary Wilson
Mark Davis vs Kyren Wilson
Joe Perry vs Hossein Vafaei
Anthony McGill vs Wu Yize
Dominic Dale vs Jack Lisowski
Judd Trump vs Si Jiahui
Yan Bingtao vs Oliver Brown
Bai Langning vs Zhao Xintong
Andy Hicks vs John Higgins
Lei Peifan vs Stuart Bingham
Mark Williams vs Andres Petrov
Graeme Dott vs Luca Brecel
Last 64
Jamie Jones vs Elliot Slessor
Zhao/Bai vs Bingham/Lei
Ding Junhui vs Vafaei/Perry
Zhang Jiankang vs Jak Jones
David Gilbert vs Lyu Haotian
Selby/Walden vs Mark Joyce
Jordan Brown vs Ng On Yee
Craig Steadman vs Ben Mertens
Lisowski/Dale vs Mitchell Mann
Higgins/Hicks vs Yuan Sijun
Brecel/Dott vs McGill/Wu
David Grace vs Xu Si
Dean Young vs Trump/Si
Li Hang vs Allen/Carrington
Andy Lee vs Yan/Brown
Gerard Greene vs Ryan Day
Lu Ning vs Zhou Yuelong
Ben Woollaston vs Williams/Petrov
Tian Pengfei vs Jimmy Robertson
Robbie Williams vs Lukas Kleckers
Anthony Hamilton vs Jamie Clarke
K.Wilson/Davis vs Hawkins/D. Jones
Noppon Saengkham vs Fraser Patrick
Chen Zifan vs Ross Muir
John Astley vs Chang Bingyu
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Matthew Stevens
Xiao Guodong vs Peter Lines
O’Sullivan/Ursenbacher vs Joe O’Connor
Dylan Emery vs Cao Yupeng
Murphy/G. Wilson vs Zhang Anda
Zhao Jianbo vs Ian Burns
Steven Hallworth vs Hammad Miah
Where to Watch the British Open
Viewers in the UK and Ireland will be able to watch daily live coverage on ITV Sport, with Eurosport broadcasting the event across the rest of Europe.
More details on how to watch from other areas of the world can be viewed here.
Featured photo credit: WST
Robertson really wanting an extensive break this year. It will be interesting if he adopts this policy next season.
I’m more excited about the British Open this term as the frame lengths reflect the event’s prestige and history. Keeping the FA Cup-style draw is a plus, especially if ITV make a better fist of covering it. While naming the trophy after the Clive Everton is another layer of gravitas.