On February 22, 2022, the snooker European Masters were released in the round of 32 after a colorful day. O'Sullivan and Trump both advanced thrillingly after a tiebreaker; Higgins and McGill won with relative ease; and Selby and Murphy suffered a round trip. Yan Bingtao, Liang Wenbo, Wu Yize and other eight Chinese players reached the second round.
Higgins made his debut on platform one in the morning. Perhaps affected by premature wake-up times, Higgins made frequent mistakes in the first set, with Clark taking a 1-0 lead. From the second inning, Higgins gradually returned to normal, shooting 82, 53 and 73 points to win five straight sets and win 5-1. Clark scored a clean sheet in the 3rd and 4th innings and just 1 point in the 2nd and 5th innings.
O'Sullivan played against Anda Zhang on platform 1 in the afternoon. O'Sullivan shot a 1-100 and a 4-50+ to take the lead 4-2, and Zhang andda then played a wonderful single 114 and 91 points to chase down to a 4-4 draw. O'Sullivan showed his abilities in the decider, winning 96-44 and beating Anda 5-4.
With a 2-1 lead, Trump watched Jack Jones shoot a single shot of 115, 94 and 128 points to win the match point 4-2. Trump then hit a world championship-level counter-attack, firing consecutive shots of 73, 83 and 98 points to reverse the deadlock 5-4. McGill shot a 2-shot 100, a 2-60+ and a 5-0 clean sheet against Wafi.
Not all TOP16 players can break through the first round. Selby and Brown each broke the 100 in the first six sets to a 3-3 draw, and Brown then won two straight sets to knock out the defending champion 5-3. Murphy lost almost the same way, and after a 3-3 draw, Sankam shot a single 122 and 60 points to beat Murphy 5-3.
Pang Junxu, who was 3-0 behind, scored a single 110, 88 and 96 points to beat Xu Si 5-4. Liang Wenbo and Yuan Sijun defeated Duan Jones and Carrington in the decider respectively. Liang Wenbo scored a single shot of 140 points, which temporarily became the highest single score during the main game. Wu Yize scored a 2-stroke breaker in the 5-3 win over O'Brien, including a shock of 147 points, but made a mistake after scoring 112 points.
Two days after the match, the lineup for the round of 32 has been finalized. These include eight Chinese players (Xiao Guodong, Zhou Yuelong, Wu Yize, Fan Zhengyi, Yan Bingtao, Pang Junxu, Liang Wenbo, Yuan Sijun) and seven TOP16 players (Breche, O'Sullivan, Higgins, Wilson, Yan Bingtao, Trump, Robertson).
Results on the 22nd (Round 1).
Xu Si 4-5 Pang Junxu, Wu Yize 5-3 F. O'Brien
Jang Health 3-5 F. Patrick, J. Clark 1-5 J. Higgins
Liang Wenbo 5-4 D. Jones, Yuan Sijun 5-4 S. Carrington
M. Selby 3-5 J. Brown, R. O'Sullivan 5-4 Anda
A. Carter 5-1 S. Maddox, L. Heathert 3-5 M. Gould
I. Burns 3-5 T. Ford, R. Wharton 5-1 M. Stevens
A. Borden 0-5 N. Robertson, Jak Jones 4-5 J. Trump
S. Murphy 3-5 N. Thornham, M. Mann 5-0 T. Uno
H. Wafi 0-5 A. McGill, A. Higginson 4-5 K. Maflin
23rd (Round 2) Schedule
18:00
J. Brown vs. Xiao Guodong, Zhou Yuelong vs. G. Dot
L. Brechel vs. S. Akani, R. Day vs. A. Carty
22:30
R. O'Sullivan vs. Yize Wu, A. Hugh Gil vs. A. Carter
M. Gould vs. F. Patrick, T. Ford vs. J. Higgins
27:00
K. Wilson vs. Fan Zhengyi, Yan Bingtao vs. J. Perry
M. Mann vs. A. McGill, K. Maforlin vs. J. Trump
24th (Round 2) Schedule
D. Gilbert vs. B. Hawkins, Pang Junxu vs. N. Robertson
N. Thornham vs. Liang Wenbo, Yuan Sijun vs. R. Wharton