The tournament will run from January 26 to 30 at the famous Tempodrom venue in the German capital.
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Top stars including Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen and Neil Robertson have booked a place in the final stages.
In all there will be 32 players heading to Berlin for the £400,000 world ranking event. All players had to win two qualifying matches in Cannock, England, to earn a place in the final stages, and ten of the world’s top 16 made it through.
World number one Trump is aiming for his third consecutive title in this event having lifted the trophy in 2020 and 2021, but will face tough competition from the likes of World Champion Selby and former Crucible kings Williams, Murphy and Robertson.
Tickets are now on sale for the tournament at a venue widely recognised as one of the best on snooker’s global circuit, in the heart of one of the world’s most fascinating cities.
Trump won the 2021 BetVictor German Masters with a 9-2 thrashing of Jack Lisowski in the final, becoming the first player to win the title in consecutive years.
Trump won the tournament for the first time in 2020, beating Neil Robertson 9-6 in the final.
Snooker’s popularity in Germany has grown massively since the sport was first televised by Eurosport in 2003, and this tournament has been described as the ‘Woodstock of Snooker’ – drawing fans from all over the country to see the best players in the world.
Former winners include Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ding Junhui, Mark Williams and Mark Selby. In 2017, Anthony Hamilton won his first ranking title by beating Ali Carter in the final. Mark Williams won the title in 2018, beating Graeme Dott 9-1 in the final, then in 2019 Kyren Wilson scored a 9-7 final win over David Gilbert.
Well… I’m not sure who writes those pieces, but I spot so many mistakes over the last months that I can’t be bothered anymore to point them out to the media officer. This time, it’s about Judd Trump… who isn’t World number one right now as Selby nicked back the spot.
This season’s BetVictor European Masters will take place at the Stadthalle in Fürth from 22nd to 27th February 2022.
The qualifying round has already taken place and there will be a fantastic field of the world’s top stars heading to Germany for the final stages.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins will both be in Fürth
World Champion Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson all had their first round matches held over so they will be among the line-up in Fürth. And many more top names came through the qualifying round including John Higgins, Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson and Jack Lisowski.
The popular Stadthalle venue, in the beautiful city of Fürth, close to Nuremberg, has welcomed thousands of snooker fans over the years and hosted the Paul Hunter Classic from 2007 to 2019, when Barry Hawkins won the final edition of the tournament.
The European Masters will form part of the eight-event BetVictor Snooker Series, from which the player earning the most prize money will snap up a huge £150,000 bonus.
Last year saw World Champion Mark Selby lift the trophy aloft after beating Martin Gould 9-8 in a thrilling final. More of the same is expected in 2022, when the finest players on the planet head to Fürth.
All matches in Fürth up to and including the quarter-finals will be played over the best of nine frames, with best of 11 frame semi-finals and a best of 17 frame final.
I don’t expect any of the held-over matches to throw an upset.
Once again Judd Trump seems to be in the easiest quarter of the draw, the highest ranked player in that quarter is Zhou Yuelong, with Luca Brecel a potential danger IF on form.
By contrast, Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, Barry Hawkins and David Gilbert are all in Neil Robertson’s quarter.
Ronnie has Jack Lisowski, Ali Carter and the small matter of John Higgins in his quarter. Easy then…
Mark Selby could meet Shaun Murphy in the QFs. Those two must be sick and tired to play each other in a “rematch” of the last World final … Shaun in particular must be over the moon.
In all there will be 32 players heading to Berlin for the £400,000 world ranking event. All players had to win two qualifying matches in Cannock, England, to earn a place in the final stages, and ten of the world’s top 16 made it through.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 