2022 English Open (snooker)

2022 BetVictor English Open
Tournament information
Dates12–18 December 2022 (2022-12-12 – 2022-12-18)
VenueBrentwood Centre
CityBrentwood
CountryEngland
OrganisationWorld Snooker Tour
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£427,000
Winner's share£80,000
Highest break Mark Williams (WAL) (147)
Final
Champion Mark Selby (ENG)
Runner-up Luca Brecel (BEL)
Score9–6
2021
2023

The 2022 English Open (officially the 2022 BetVictor English Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 12 to 18 December 2022 at the Brentwood Centre in Brentwood, England.[1] The seventh ranking event of the 2022–23 season, it was the third tournament in the Home Nations Series, following the Northern Ireland Open and the Scottish Open and preceding the Welsh Open. It was the fourth of eight tournaments in the season's European Series. Qualifiers took place from 25 to 30 October at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, although matches involving the top 16 players in the world rankings were held over to be played at the final venue. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by BetVictor, the tournament was broadcast by Eurosport in the UK and Europe. The winner received £80,000 from a total prize fund of £427,000.

On the first day of the tournament, the WPBSA suspended Yan Bingtao from professional competition, making him the seventh player suspended from the tour since October amid a major match-fixing investigation.[2][3]

Neil Robertson was the defending champion, having defeated John Higgins 9–8 in the 2021 final.[4] However, he was beaten 4–6 by Mark Selby in the semi-finals, meaning that he lost at the semi-final stage in each of the season's first three Home Nations events.[5] Selby recorded his first win over Robertson in two years, after seven consecutive losses to him,[6] and reached his first ranking final since winning the 2021 World Championship.[7] He went on to win the event, defeating Luca Brecel 9–6 in the final to capture his 21st ranking title.[8] He became the first player to win the English Open twice, and the second player, after Judd Trump, to win four Home Nations tournaments.[9]

Mark Williams made the tournament's highest break, the third maximum break of his career, in the fourth frame of his quarter-final match against Robertson.[10] Aged 47 years and 270 days, he became the oldest player to make an officially recognised maximum break in professional competition.[11][12]

  1. ^ BetVictor English Open - World Snooker. wst.tv. 2022-10-09.
  2. ^ "Yan Bingtao Becomes Seventh Player To Be Suspended In Snooker Match-Fixing Probe". The Sportsman. 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  3. ^ "Yan suspended from tour amid match-fixing probe". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  4. ^ "Robertson beats Higgins 9-8 in final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
  5. ^ "Snooker results: Mark Selby rallies to beat Neil Robertson 6-4 at English Open". www.sportinglife.com. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  6. ^ "Selby Ends Losing Streak Against Robertson". World Snooker Tour. 17 December 2022. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022.
  7. ^ "Selby to face Brecel in English Open final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  8. ^ "Selby Ends Barren Streak With English Title". World Snooker Tour. 18 December 2022. Archived from the original on December 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Davies, Jonathan (18 December 2022). "Mark Selby beats Luca Brecel to end title drought at English Open". livesnooker.com.
  10. ^ "Williams Makes 147 In Brentwood". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on December 16, 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  11. ^ "Williams becomes oldest player to make 147 break". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  12. ^ "Neil Robertson Makes Semi-Final Of English Open Despite Mark Williams' 147". The Sportsman. 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2022-12-16.