They will play just eight games to reach the round of 64, as most of the players have already gone through the so-called qualifiers in the middle of the summer.
However, the top eight in the world rankings will play their qualifying match, or in other words, their first round match, on the opening day.
Defending champion Kyren Wilson In addition to a series of consecutive world champions Mark Allen You will be interested in this tour. probably Neil Robertson Receive the toughest opponent Wu Yiziin the person of a Chinese talent who achieved the best result of his career in this tournament last year, and reached the quarter-finals, among others. Luca Brecel With defeat
page Otherwise, he can surprise anyone, and the combination includes a poor start to the season from the world champion. Who suffered his only defeat to Paige three years ago in the European Masters Championship.
O’Sullivan His first opponent is older than him Andy Hicks The 50-year-old Englishman would have turned professional in 1991 and played in the semi-finals six times, but never reached the final. He left the professional field in 2013, but in 2019 (at the age of 46!) he returned to the main tour. Two years ago, he also played in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship.
Hicks has met O’Sullivan twice since his return, and both times Racketa won 4-1. This cannot happen now, because in this tournament matches last from the first round to five won frames. Hicks defeated the current world number one twice, nearly twenty-eight years ago, at the 1995 UK Championship, and nearly thirty years ago, in February 1993, in O’Sullivan’s first season, at the European Open in Belgium. The seven-time world champion has had his last nine appearances, including World Championships, Masters and UK matches.
In addition to the aforementioned gentlemen Mark Selby, Judd Trump And Sean Murphy They are also among the hottest favorites, so they will also be making their European Masters debut in the first stage. Up to the quarter-finals, matches continue with five frames won, in the semi-finals with six frames and in the finals, nine frames must be won to win. Last year there were two maximums in this tournament, Zhang Andarespectively Hussein Wafai By
There is already a break of 147 this year, in the qualifiers Sean O’Sullivan He paid his first number, the 190th official maximum in snooker history. Interestingly, all three perfect breaks occurred in the playoffs, and all three were the first maximum for the given player.