On February 28, 2022, Beijing time, the Snooker Welsh Open kicked off, and 3 big cold spots broke out on the first match day. Seeded Stephen Maguire, Anthony McGill and defending champion Jordan Brown were out of qualifying, and China's Zhang Anda reversed Anthony McGill 2-3 behind.
In the just-concluded European Masters, Fan Zhengyi successfully won the championship, and his outstanding performance should inspire other Chinese players. Sure enough, when it came to the Welsh Open, Zhang Anda, who took the lead in appearance, achieved an important victory. Facing world No. 12 Anthony McGill in the postponement of the qualifier, Anda Zhang scored a three-shot 50+ and completed the reversal after falling behind 2-3 to eliminate his opponents 4-3 and advance to the main tournament. The winning Anda Zhang will face Mark Joyce in the next round.
In addition to Anthony McGill's upset exit, two seeded players stopped qualifying. Stephen Maguire, ranked 15th in the world, is still in a slump, facing veteran O'Brien, Maguire's single shot quality is very low, it can be said that there are constant mistakes, and finally lost 1-4. Veteran O'Brien shot two 60+ and will face Tachaia in the first round of the regular season.
Defending champion Jordan Brown fought in seven innings to lose 3-4 to Mitchell Mann and suffer a round trip. In the game, Jordan Brown played a single 124 points, 50 points, at one point to win the match point 3-2, but unfortunately he failed to seize the opportunity, Mitchell Mann won two consecutive sets, 4-3 to eliminate the defending champion, the next round against Ben Hankaun.
In another game, world champion Sean Murphy shot a three-shot 50+ and after a hard battle, he eliminated Andy Hicks 4-2, and this match was the only game in the first time period that did not upset. The winning Sean Murphy will face Anthony Hamilton in the first round of the regular season.
Next, Trump, Selby, Neil Robertson, Higgins and other world champions will be out, and they will try to win the postponement qualification and advance to the main tournament. Fan Zhengyi, who had just won the European Masters, did not qualify for this tournament because he lost to Cao Yupeng in the previous qualification match, so Zhao Xintong, Yan Bingtao, Ding Junhui and others shouldered the heavy responsibility of winning the championship!