txt/2022_Welsh_Open_(snooker).txt

2022_Welsh_Open_(snooker)

The 2022 Welsh Open (officially the 2022 BetVictor Welsh Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 28 February to 6 March 2022 at the International Convention Centre Wales at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales. It was the 12th ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, and the 31st edition of the Welsh Open, first held in 1992. It was the seventh of eight tournaments in the season's European Series, and the fourth and final event of the Home Nations Series. The tournament was broadcast by BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Online, BBC Red Button, Quest and Eurosport domestically.
Jordan Brown was the defending champion, having defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8 in the final of the 2021 event. However, Brown lost 3–4 in his held-over qualifying match against Mitchell Mann. Joe Perry defeated Judd Trump 9–5 in the final to capture his first Welsh Open title and the second ranking title of his career. Aged 47 years and 205 days, Perry became the oldest player to win a ranking tournament since Ray Reardon, who was 50 years and 14 days old when he won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament. However, Mark Williams surpassed Perry the following season by winning the 2023 British Open aged 48 years and 194 days. There were 52 century breaks made during the main venue stage of the event; the highest was a 142, made by Michael White in the second round.

# Format

The Welsh Open began as a ranking tournament in 1992, when it was held at the Newport Centre in Newport. The 2022 tournament, the 31st edition,  took place at the International Convention Centre Wales at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, between 28 February and 6 March [1] [2]. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it was the 12th ranking tournament of the 2021–22 snooker season, following the European Masters and preceding the Turkish Masters [3]. It was the seventh of eight events in the European Series and the fourth and final event of the Home Nations Series [4] [5]. The defending Welsh Open champion was Jordan Brown, who won the 2021 final with a 9–8 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan. For the 2022 event, all matches were the best of seven frames until the quarter-finals, which were the best of nine; the semi-finals were the best of 11 [6]. The final was played over two sessions, as the best of 17 frames [7]. The event was sponsored by sports betting company BetVictor, and broadcast locally by BBC Cymru Wales [7]. It was broadcast by BBC Online, BBC Red Button, and Quest in the United Kingdom; Eurosport in Europe; CCTV5, Youku, Zhibo.tv and Migu in China; Now TV in Hong Kong; True Sport in Thailand; Sky Sports in New Zealand; DAZN in Canada; and Astrosport in Malaysia. In all other locations it was broadcast by Matchroom Sport. 

## Prize fund

The event's total prize fund was £405,000, with the winner receiving £70,000. The player accumulating the highest amount of prize money over the eight European Series events received a bonus of £150,000. The breakdown of prize money is shown below: [9] [10] [11]. 

# Summary

## Early rounds

"Held-over" qualifying matches (matches played at the main venue, rather than a qualifying arena) and rounds of 64 and 32 were played from 28 February to 3 March. The defending champion Brown's best performance during the 2021–22 season had been a last-16 appearance in the 2021 UK Championship [12]. He took a 2–1 lead in his held-over qualifying match against Mitchell Mann, helped by a break of 124 in the third frame, and went on to lead 3–2 [13]. However, Mann won the last two frames to defeat Brown 4–3. Anthony McGill, the 16th seed, lost his held-over qualifying match 3–4 to Zhang Anda,  while 13th seed Stephen Maguire, who had yet to win a match in 2022, lost 1–4 to Fergal O'Brien [13] [14]. O'Sullivan's held-over qualifying match against James Cahill was rescheduled from 28 February to 1 March, due to O'Sullivan's involvement in the European Masters final on 27 February [15]. O'Sullivan won the match against Cahill 4–0 in 43 minutes [73]. Three-time World Women's Snooker Championship winner Ng On-yee had defeated Wu Yize 4–2 in the qualifying round, her first professional victory since gaining a place on the World Snooker Tour at the beginning of the season. She lost 1–4 to Ali Carter in the last 64,  but was the first woman to compete in the Welsh Open beyond the qualifying stages,  and posted on social media that she was "pleased and proud" of her performance [19] [17] [20]. Ninth seed Zhao Xintong, 10th seed Mark Williams, and 15th seed Stuart Bingham also exited in the round of 64, all losing in deciding frames to Jak Jones, Kurt Maflin, and Elliot Slessor respectively [21]. O'Sullivan fell 1–2 behind against Lukas Kleckers, but then rallied to win three frames in a row, defeating Kleckers 4–2. In the final match of the round of 64, reigning world champion and second seed Mark Selby faced Liam Highfield [18]. After losing the first two frames, Selby won three in a row before Highfield took the match to a decider with a 74 break. Selby led in the decider after a break of 40, but then failed to escape from a snooker and left a free ball, allowing Highfield to make a 92 clearance and win 4–3. In the round of 32, Carter made breaks of 141, 50, 51, 87 and 81 in his 4–2 defeat of seventh seed John Higgins, who had reached every other Home Nations final that season. Fifth seed Neil Robertson won his first frame against Graeme Dott after the referee Andy Yates failed to notice that he had played a foul shot while bridging over the pack with the swan rest; Robertson himself was at the other end of the table and unable to see the shot [26] [27]. Robertson then made breaks of 102, 75, and 52 to complete a 4–1 victory [28]. Fourth seed Judd Trump defeated Si Jiahui 4–2 after coming from behind to win both the fifth and sixth frames [30]. Eleventh seed Mark Allen exited the tournament when he lost a late-night deciding frame to Joe Perry [30]. Ding Junhui won the first frame of his last-32 match against O'Sullivan with a 72 break. O'Sullivan responded with an 85 break to take the second, but Ding won the third with breaks of 65 and 59. O'Sullivan came from behind in the fourth to produce a frame-winning clearance, won the fifth after potting a difficult yellow ball, and won the match 4–2 after Ding missed a pot on the black ball in the sixth frame. It was O'Sullivan's 19th win against Ding in their 23 meetings. Ricky Walden defeated 14th seed Yan Bingtao 4–2 to set up a last-16 meeting with O'Sullivan, while Ryan Day made breaks of 71, 78, 53, and 82 on his way to a 4–0 whitewash over eighth seed Shaun Murphy [31]. Matthew Selt took a 3–1 lead against sixth seed Kyren Wilson, but Wilson won the last three frames, defeating Selt 4–3 [31] [32]. Twelfth seed Barry Hawkins lost in a deciding frame to Ben Woollaston [33]. 

## Last 16

All last-16 matches took place on the evening of 3 March. Trump capitalised on errors from his opponent Jimmy Robertson to win the first two frames, making a century break in the second [12] [32]. Robertson won the third frame and had an opportunity to win the fourth by potting a straightforward pink ball, but missed the shot, allowing Trump to go 3–1 ahead. Trump closed out the match with his second century of the evening to win 4–1, the ninth time he had beaten Jimmy Robertson in ten encounters. O'Sullivan lost the first frame against Walden, but won the second with a break of 76. Although O'Sullivan made a 55 break in the third frame, Walden won it by clearing to the black, and then made a total clearance of 136 in the fourth frame to go 3–1 ahead. Walden played more conservatively in the fifth frame,  but O'Sullivan won the fifth and sixth frames with breaks of 88 and 85 to take the match to a deciding frame . However, Walden made an 83 break to win 4–3. Carter won four frames in a row to defeat Scott Donaldson 4–2, Zhang beat Matthew Stevens by the same scoreline, and Hossein Vafaei defeated Day in a deciding frame. Perry defeated Wilson 4–1, Neil Robertson beat Woollaston by the same scoreline, and Jack Lisowski whitewashed amateur player Michael White 4–0 [38]. The losses by Stevens, Day, and White meant that no Welsh player advanced beyond the round of 16. 

## Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 4 March as the best of nine frames. In the afternoon session, Carter played Lisowski while Neil Robertson faced Trump [39]. The first four frames between Carter and Lisowski were shared, but Carter won the fifth and sixth frames with breaks of 86 and 53 to lead 4–2. However, Carter did not score another point in the match. Lisowski won a scrappy seventh frame before making an 82 break in the eighth and a total clearance of 135 in the decider to win the match 5–4 and reach his first ranking event semi-final of the season. "It was probably one of my biggest buzzes since I’ve been a pro [40] [41]. Everything started going in, I can't even remember the break at the end," said Lisowski afterward. O'Sullivan, working as a pundit for Eurosport, stated that Lisowski would win tournaments if he played similarly more often [42]. Trump won a scrappy 25-minute opening frame against Robertson, but a lax safety shot from Trump in the second gave Robertson an opportunity to draw level with a 95 break. Robertson required foul shots from his opponent in the third frame, but Trump repeatedly escaped each time Robertson laid a snooker and eventually snookered Robertson back; Robertson conceded the frame after he failed to escape. Trump won the fourth frame with a break of 60 and won the fifth frame to lead 4–1. Robertson, however, won both the sixth and seventh frames and had an opportunity to draw level in the eighth, but missed an easy black, allowing Trump to win the match 5–3 and reach his first ranking semi-final of the season. Robertson stated afterward that the sudden death of Australian cricket player Shane Warne, a childhood idol, had left him in tears before the match and had affected his performance on the table: "I couldn't concentrate, couldn't think properly, couldn't do anything." [52] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49]. In the evening, Zhang faced Vafaei and Walden played Perry. Zhang made a century break in the opening frame and won three of the next four frames to lead 4–1. Vafaei, however, won four frames in a row with breaks of 68, 58, 63 and 96 to win the match 5–4 and reach the fifth ranking semi-final of his career. "It was unbelievable [45]. This is one of the tastiest comebacks I’ve ever had in my life," stated Vafaei afterward. He added that winning the Shoot Out earlier in the season had given him the self-belief that he could win [50]. Walden made two breaks of 125, but only won two frames as Perry won the match 5–2 with breaks including a 118 and a 51 to reach his first ranking semi-final since 2019 [51]. Perry cited a match he won over Lee Walker at the Turkish Masters qualifying event where he had played well as a catalyst for his change in form and increase in confidence [45] [51] [52]. 

## Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 5 March as the best of 11 frames. Facing Trump in the afternoon session, Vafaei started strongly, taking a 3–1 lead with breaks of 94 and 85, but Trump claimed the fifth and then won the sixth on the black to draw level at 3–3. Vafaei moved two frames ahead again at 5–3, but Trump made breaks of 66 and 121 to force a deciding frame, which he won to defeat Vafaei 6–5. Trump said that Vafaei would be "disappointed", that "he was the better player and his safety was brilliant. Every time I came to the table I seemed to be in trouble and his potting was better than mine." [54]. The second semi-final between Perry and Lisowski also went to a deciding frame. Perry won the first three frames and came close to winning the fourth, but he missed a straightforward pot, which let Lisowski win the frame and go to the interval trailing 1–3. Lisowski's attempt at a maximum break in the fifth frame ended when he missed the ninth red after potting eight reds and eight blacks, but he won the frame, reducing Perry's lead to one. Good safety play and a break of 68 gave Perry the sixth frame, Lisowski responded with a 69 to win the seventh, and Perry won the eighth to move one frame from victory at 5–3. However, Lisowski took the ninth with a 71 break after Perry missed a black off the spot, and then made a 123 break in the tenth to take the match to a decider . Both players had opportunities, but Perry prevailed in a key safety exchange to win the frame and match. It was Perry's 16th win in a final-frame decider at the Welsh Open, more than any other player in the history of the event [56]. Perry stated afterward that he had been suffering from a bad headache during the match that at one point made it difficult to see the balls clearly, calling it "the worst I've ever felt in a game of snooker." [57] [58]. 

# Main draw

Below is the main draw for the event. Numbers in brackets denote seeded players. Players in bold denote match winners. 

# Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place from 15 to 20 February 2022 at Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton. The matches involving the top 16 seeds and the two wild card players, Dylan Emery and Liam Davies, were held over and played at the main venue. Sam Craigie withdrew and was replaced by James Cahill [72]. Numbers in brackets denote seeded players. [73]. 

# Century breaks

## Main stage centuries

There were 58 century breaks made during the main stage of the tournament. 

## Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 22 century breaks were made during qualification. 

# References

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