European Masters Snooker: The Competitors
The 2022 European Masters Snooker starts this week in Milton Keynes, with several top-level players looking to take home the trophy.
Rebranded to the European Masters in 2016, the tournament has been relocated to the UK due to the pandemic and will run from 21st-27th February.
The 2021-22 season so far has seen a younger generation of players trying to displace the old guard and this will be the case again at the Marshall Arena.
So, who are the contenders at the sixth instalment of this competition, and the £80,000 prize money that goes with it?
New wave of Snooker players challenging
In previous years, Snooker was reliant on the older, more established names to keep the sport ticking over.
However, the emergence of talented younger players has shaken up the pack.
Yan Bingtao, 21, has been growing into a top player and after a successful two years he has risen to No13 in the world.
He won the 2021 Masters, and this season has reached the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open, Champion of Champions and the Champions League, losing to John Higgins on all three occasions.
This is Bingtao’s fifth appearance at the European Masters, having reached the quarter finals in his last visit.
Luca Brecel has improved on a poor 2020/21 season by winning the Scottish Open and finishing as the runner-up at the UK Championship.
Brecel is the World No16, and he will hope to make it beyond the third round of the European Masters for the first time.
Hossein Vafaei is Iran’s first professional Snooker player and is steadily improving his performances in tournaments.
At 27, he is not a new player to the tour, but won the Shoot-Out and reached the fourth round at the British Open and UK Championship.
In his win at the Shoot-Out, Vafaei knocked out Mark Williams, proving that he can more than compete with the top 16.
Snooker’s big names still going strong
Higgins is having a very good season, reaching five finals, but only winning one of them, the Champions League.
The four-time World Champion has admitted he has tried to get fitter and has felt the benefits in his game, with results on the table backing this up.
He always has the quality to compete and won the European Masters when it was known as the European Open in the 96/97 season.
Barry Hawkins has hit form at the right time for this year’s competition, an event where he has never progressed beyond the quarter finals.
A semi-final at the UK Championship in December, a runner-up in January at The Masters, and runner-up at the Players Championship just a few days ago shows Hawkins’s consistency.
He has been knocking on the door of his first tournament win since 2019 and will be eyeing up another good run at the European Masters.
Shaun Murphy has struggled this season and has only progressed beyond the second round on one occasion.
He won the European Masters in 2017, known then at the Malta Cup, and was knocked out of last year’s competition by winner Mark Selby in the semi-finals.
Williams has been having a strong season but will miss the tournament as he had to pull out of the qualifies after contracting Covid.
The big four yet to qualify for the European Masters
Dispersed through-out the first-round matches are four qualifiers that were held over from the initial qualifying in October 2021.
Previous winners Judd Trump, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson, as well as Ronnie O’Sullivan all face opponents that they should overcome, but Snooker doesn’t always work that way.
Following wins at The Masters and the Players Championship in 2022, Robertson will be considered the favourite for the draw should he qualify.
He is in incredible form, and has also won the English Open, and was the runner-up at the World Grand Prix to add to an impressive season.
Trump has only managed one trophy this season, which by his standards is low after eleven tournament wins in a two-season spell from 2019-2021.
However, the 2019 World Champion will always be considered a favourite in any competition he enters given his natural talent and ability to grind out a win.
O’Sullivan needs no introduction. The Rocket has the potential to out-play anyone on his day, but his 2022 World Grand Prix title is his only win in the past two seasons.
Defending champion Selby is without a trophy this season and has struggled to compete in the latter stages.
He recently took to social media to open up about mental health issues which seem to have impacted his performances on the table.
Everyone wants the Jester from Leicester back to his best, and hopes are that he will find his form again at the European Masters.
To read about the current state of Snooker, and issues around the competition, then take a look at Yoseph Kiflie’s preview here.
