The main stage of the 2022 Snooker European Masters will kick off tonight. The European Masters was originally planned to be held in Fuert, Germany, but due to the epidemic and other reasons, the competition was finally placed in Milton Keynes, England.
Here's how the top 16 seeded players in the tournament are placed (it's important to note that the seedings at the UEFA Masters were determined by the world rankings after the Northern Ireland Open last October):
Upper Half:
Zone 1, Selby, Zhou Yuelong; Zone 2, Allen (out), Maguire (out);
District 3, Karen Wilson, Yan Bingtao; District 4, Hawkins, Robertson.
Lower Half:
5th Arrondissement, O'Sullivan, Lissovsky; 6th Arrondissement, Bingham (out), Higgins;
District 7, Murphy, Mark Williams (retired); District 8, Trump, McGill.
The European Masters qualifiers ended as early as the end of October last year. The qualifying rounds for the first four seeded players (defending champions Selby, Terre, O'Sullivan and Robertson) were postponed to the main stage. In the qualifying stage, in addition to Mark Williams, who withdrew due to the new crown, Higgins, Wilson and other 8 seeds advanced, Mark Allen, Maguire and Bingham, 3 seeds fell. Ding Junhui, who had already arrived in the United Kingdom at that time, participated in the German Masters qualifiers in the same period, but did not participate in the European Masters qualifiers (Ding Junhui was still the top 16 seeds of the tournament). There is news that Ding Junhui forgot to register; this should be a serious negligence on the staff of Ding Junhui's team, who may think that the European Masters is far away in February of the following year, and the registration is still early. But in any case, such a mistake should not be, like a hand swing to lose the point of the black ball.
Chinese players, 14 advanced to the main tournament, including Yan Bingtao, Liang Wenbo, Xiao Guodong, Cao Yupeng, etc. (Lei Peifan's match with Robertson was extended to the main tournament). And zhao Xintong, who is popular, lost to Alan Hill, who ranked eighty or ninety in the qualifier decider, and did not qualify for the main tournament. Watching Zhao Xintong's game, we will have to wait until next week's Welsh Open. Therefore, the Most Concerned Chinese Player in the Main Tournament is Yan Bingtao. Yan Bingtao played against Li Xing in the first round of the match.
In recent games, Yan Bingtao's state is good, but there is a mediocre ranking record, more debt, plus to deduct the 60,000 pounds of ranking bonus for the runner-up of the 2020 Players Championship, Yan Bingtao's world ranking to keep the top 16, there is still some pressure. The post-European Masters rankings are not a problem, but then the provisional ranking before the Welsh Open (deducting 60,000 pounds), Yan Bingtao is already in 17th place, and there is a big gap of 25,000 pounds from Lisowski in 16th place. Looking further afield, in the temporary ranking before the Crucible World Championships, Yan Bingtao will also rank 16th. Therefore, Yan Bingtao wants to get a ticket to The Crucible, and the next few ranking tournaments need to earn enough ranking bonuses. And the performance of these ranking tournaments will also determine the tickets for the Tour Championship. There are still four ranking tournaments before the Tour Championship, and Yan Bingtao is currently tied with Walton for 8th place in a single season, and will stand on the threshold of eight tickets for the Tour Championship. If you can get tickets to the Tour Championship, the tickets to Crucible will naturally be done. Therefore, these ranking matches are very critical for Yan Bingtao. At the same time, we can also pay attention to the performance of Wharton, Yan Bingtao's biggest competitor and the recent recovery of state.