On 26 March, the 2022 Snooker Gibraltar Open enters its third matchday, a day of four devils, with the round of 16 players deciding the final winner, and also deciding the final £150,000 prize money for the European Series and the final roster for next week's Tour Tournament. As Karen Wilson defeated Walton 4-3 in the semifinals, blocking the latter's rush to the championship, Yan Bingtao of the Chinese Legion and the Scottish "wizard" Higgins breathed a sigh of relief, because Yan Bingtao had saved the world's top 16 places before the World Championships, and Higgins also won a huge prize of 150,000 as desired.
Why this year's Gibraltar Open will be a rare event for many masters to sign up for, including the "Rocket" O'Sullivan, who has previously scoffed at the event, and it is also the first time that their main purpose is to compete for the €150,000 prize money of the European Series. According to the agreement between the WST Tour and the sponsors, the player who ranks first in the prize points of all the european series this year will receive an additional £150,000 in prize money, which has been won by Trump for the previous two years, and as many as 11 people have the opportunity to compete this year when the final Gibraltar Open is approaching.
In addition, after the Gibraltar Open, it also involves the qualification of another high-threshold ranking tournament tour championship, because only the top eight players in a single season are eligible to participate in the tour championship, so before the Gibraltar Open, there are many people who have the opportunity to impact. In addition, it involves the seed qualification of the year-end World Championship, yan Bingtao of the Chinese legion will return to the top 16 in the next cycle, ranking 16th, but the catcher behind him is Walton, as long as he wins the Gibraltar Open, he can complete the counterattack against Yan Bingtao.
As the Gibraltar Open progressed, a number of jackpot winners were eliminated, including first-time O'Sullivan, who lost three consecutive sets in a 3-1 match point lead and was reversed. Higgins has risen to the top of the European series prize list after reaching the round of 32, so other players must achieve the corresponding results if they want to surpass him. With the popular players such as Trump and Robertson also out, only Walton has a chance to attack, but he needs to win the championship to complete the counterattack. In addition, if Wharton wins the championship, he will unlock a number of benefits, including a prize of £200,000 (Gibraltar Open champion £50,000 + European Series extra £150,000), Tour Championship qualification, world championship top 16 seeds qualification, next season's crown qualification and so on. Unfortunately, he lost 3-4 to Wilson in the semifinals, missing out on all the benefits and completing Higgins' early lock-up of the big prize.
For Yan Bingtao, due to personal mistakes, he did not register for the Gibraltar Open and missed the opportunity to compete for the huge prize. In addition, he also handed over the voice of the top 16 in the personal world ranking to the catch-up behind him. Although he is currently ranked 17th, after next week's Tour Championship, Maguire, who won the championship two years ago, will deduct the championship points and directly fall out of the top 16, and Yan Bingtao will be able to return to 16th place. The catch-up behind them is Walton, and the gap between the two is less than 50,000 pounds, so the gibraltar Open championship prize money is enough to complete the counter-overtaking. Now, with Wharton's exit, Yan Bingtao can rest assured in advance and prepare for the World Championship as a seed.