On February 21, the 2022 World Snooker Tour European Masters officially kicked off, and in the 6 matches of the opening match, the Chinese team had as many as 7 players, led by Yan Bingtao, Xiao Guodong and Zhou Yuelong. Among them, Yan Bingtao and Li Xing, Zhou Yuelong and Gao Yang fought two Chinese civil wars, while Xiao Guodong, Cao Yupeng and Fan Zhengyi all faced foreign players. In the end, after a fierce battle, Yan Bingtao, Zhou Yuelong, Xiao Guodong, Fan Zhengyi and four people won smoothly and advanced to the round of 32, while Gao Yang and Li Xing lost in the civil war, and Cao Yupeng lost to Joe Perry, regrettably out.
As the penultimate stop of the European series, the European Masters have a prize money of up to 80,000 pounds, and are an important event for many players to compete for the top eight places in a single season and compete for the qualification of the Tour Championship. In addition, due to the impact of the epidemic, this year's European Masters was held in the United Kingdom, so the qualified players also avoided the fatigue of boats and cars, and saved travel expenses. The Chinese team performed well in the qualifiers, with 14 advancing to the round of 64 and one playing in the postponement qualifiers. However, unfortunately, Ding Junhui and Zhao Xintong were absent for some reason, the former missing the registration, and the latter unexpectedly lost in the qualifiers.
The Chinese legion led by Yan Bingtao ushered in a collective appearance in the opening match on the first day of the main tournament, Yan Bingtao and Li Xing launched a civil war battle, and finally Yan Bingtao played a three-shot 50+ in the case of losing one set first, winning five consecutive sets, and finally winning easily 5-1. In the civil war between Zhou Yuelong and his younger brother Gao Yang, he performed steadily, playing four shots of 70+, and finally won 5-1. And Xiao Guodong, Fan Zhengyi, Cao Yupeng three are foreign battles, Xiao Guodong faced Hicks, the first half was somewhat passive, once 1-2 behind, but in the second half he played a sense of hand, winning four consecutive sets, including a shot to break 128 points and two shots 70+, and finally completed the reversal 5-2.
Fan Zhengyi's opponent is Aaron Hill, an Irish player who "upset" Zhao Xintong in the qualifiers. In recent times, Fan Zhengyi's state has rebounded, and the German Masters have reached the top 8, setting a new career high. In this duel against Hill, although Fan Zhengyi only scored a 63 point, with a stable performance, he still won 5-3 and successfully advanced to the round of 32. Cao Yupeng was slightly sorry, his duel with Joe Perry, many times wasted good opportunities, and finally lost 2-5, continuing to slump. In another match in the same period, karen Wilson, who is ranked fifth in the world, defeated Jamie Jones 5-2 to advance to the finale.