The 2022 Gibraltar Open (officially the 2022 BetVictor Gibraltar Open) was a professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in Ind ...

tournament that took place from 24 to 26 March 2022 at the

Europa Point Sports Complex Europa Sports Park is a multi-purpose stadium in Gibraltar; it was previously a Ministry of Defence cricket pitch. In 2019 it hosted the Island Games opening ceremony and will also host the annual Gibraltar Music Festival. In February 2014 the ...

. The 14th ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, it followed the Turkish Masters and preceded the

Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 m ...

. It was the seventh edition of the

Gibraltar Open The Gibraltar Open was a ranking snooker tournament. In 2015 it was part of the Players Tour Championship. The tournament started in 2015 and was staged at the Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar. Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 M ...

, first held in 2015, and the eighth and final event of the 2021–22 European Series. The defending champion was

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...

, who defeated Jack Lisowski 4–0 in the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

final. However, Trump lost 0–4 to

Ricky Walden Ricky Walden (born 11 November 1982) is an English professional snooker player from Chester. Walden turned professional in 2000 and it took him eight years to win his first ranking title at the Shanghai Masters. He has since won the 2012 Wuxi ...

in the last 16.

Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player. Considered one of the most naturally talented and quickest players in the game, Milkins has been a mainstay on the tour since regaining his tour card in 1998. Milkins ...

defeated Kyren Wilson 4–2 in the final to win the first ranking title of his 27-year professional career. Aged 46, Milkins became the oldest first-time winner of a ranking event since

Doug Mountjoy Doug Mountjoy (8 June 1942 – 14 February 2021) was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Glamorgan, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within t ...

won the 1988 UK Championship.

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

secured the European Series bonus of £150,000, awarded to the player who won the most cumulative prize money over the eight tournaments.

Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...

made the highest break of the tournament, a 147 in the final frame of his first-round match with

Gerard Greene Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast. Greene has enjoyed moderate success in his ...

. It was the ninth

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...

of Bingham's career and the eighth of the 2021–22 season.

Format

The event was the seventh iteration of the

, which was first held in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. It took place from 24 to 26 March 2022 at the

in Gibraltar. The 14th ranking tournament of the 2021–22 snooker season, it followed the Turkish Masters and preceded the

. The defending champion was

, who had defeated Jack Lisowski 4–0 in the 2021 final. The tournament was organised by the

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...

and sponsored by

BetVictor BetVictor is an online gambling company headquartered in Gibraltar. Founded in 1946, it offers products such as sports betting and online casino. The company is currently owned by Michael Tabor. History The company was founded by William Chan ...

. All matches were contested as the best of seven . The event saw a significant number of withdrawals, including Mark Williams,

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and ra ...

Stephen Maguire Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...

, Kurt Maflin,

Anthony McGill Anthony McGill (born 5 February 1991) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus. McGill turned professional in 2010, after finishing fourth in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He wo ...

, Sam Craigie, David Gilbert and Anthony Hamilton. Additionally, bad weather in Gibraltar led to a number of flights being diverted to Málaga, where some players travelling on non-British passports did not meet Spanish visa requirements and had to return to the UK.

European Series bonus

The Gibraltar Open was the concluding event of the 2021–22 European Series, which carried a £150,000 bonus for the player who won the most cumulative prize money over its eight tournaments. Eleven players remained in contention for the bonus at the beginning of the tournament.

topped the series money list with £98,000; Mark Allen had the same amount, but Higgins led on

countback In various sports, a countback is used to break ties. Field events High jump and pole vault World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, uses the following criteria to break ties (rule 26.8 in the 2020 edition of the World A ...

, having gone further in the European Masters than Allen. Fan Zhengyi,

Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made hi ...

Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...

and Ronnie O’Sullivan all began the tournament with £90,000 or more.

Zhao Xintong Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Long considered one of the brightest talents in the game, he won his first ranking title (also his first Triple Crown title) at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Lu ...

Hossein Vafaei Hossein Vafaei ( fa, حسین وفایی ایوری; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first professional title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mar ...

, Joe Perry,

and

were also in contention. Vafaei was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to visa issues in Spain. O'Sullivan and Fan lost in the round of 128; Zhao, Perry, and Brecel lost in the round of 64; and Higgins and Allen lost in the round of 32. Trump and Robertson needed to reach the final to remain in contention, but both lost in the round of 16. Walden needed to win the event to capture the bonus, but he lost in the semi-finals. This meant that Higgins remained top of the series prize money list and won the bonus.

Prize fund

The event featured a prize fund of £251,000, of which the winner received £50,000. The breakdown of the tournament's prize money is shown below: * Winner: £50,000 * Runner-up: £20,000 * Semi-final: £6,000 * Quarter-final: £5,000 * Last 16: £4,000 * Last 32: £3,000 * Last 64: £2,000 * Highest break: £5,000 * Total: £251,000

Tournament draw

Below is the full draw for the event. Players in bold denote match winners.

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Finals

Final

Century breaks

A total of 70 century breaks were made during the tournament. * 147, 119, 101

* 140, 112, 109, 103, 102

* 139

Zhou Yuelong Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has been runner-up at three ranking events, the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open. Career Between 20 ...

* 138, 103 Zhang Anda * 135 Noppon Saengkham * 133, 123, 119, 112

Ding Junhui Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (200 ...

* 132, 117, 114, 114, 101 Jimmy Robertson * 132, 117, 108, 100, 100 Kyren Wilson * 132 James Cahill * 130, 112, 108, 102 Lyu Haotian * 126, 112

* 126 Soheil Vahedi * 122

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and dire ...

* 122

Jak Jones Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player. Jones was born in Cwmbran, Wales. He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16, by winning the 2010 European Under 19 Snooker Championship in Malta. Career Professi ...

* 120

Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens (born 11 September 1977) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He has won two of the game's Triple Crown events, the Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been a two-time runner-up in the other triple ...

* 119, 103 Jack Lisowski * 119

* 118

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (, ; born 18 April 1985) is a Thai professional snooker player. He has won one ranking event, the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out, and finished as runner-up in the 2019 World Open. He is regarded as one of the fastest snooker player ...

* 117, 117, 105, 100 Jordan Brown * 116 Jamie Jones * 114, 102, 100 Ben Hancorn * 114 Lee Walker * 113

Dominic Dale Dominic Dale (born Christopher Dale on 29 December 1971) is a Welsh professional snooker player and snooker commentator and presenter for the BBC and Eurosport. Career Dale was born in Coventry, England. He won the Welsh Amateur Championship, ...

* 112, 102

* 109 Gao Yang * 106 Joe Perry * 105, 104 Mark Allen * 105 David Grace * 104, 101, 100 Yuan Sijun * 104, 100 Ben Woollaston * 104 Louis Heathcote * 104 Mitchell Mann * 103

* 103

* 102 Ashley Hugill * 102

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stu ...

* 101 Ross Muir

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibraltar Open, 2022

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2022 in snooker 2022 in Gibraltarian sport March 2022 sports events in Europe European Series