The 2022 Players Championship (officially the 2022 Cazoo Players Championship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 7 to 13 February 2022 at Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton, England.[1] It was the tenth ranking event of the 2021–22 season, and the second event of the Cazoo Cup, following the World Grand Prix and preceding the Tour Championship.[1] It featured the top 16 ranked players on the one-year ranking list. The event was broadcast by ITV4 in the United Kingdom,[2] and Eurosport in the rest of Europe.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 7–13 February 2022 |
| Venue | Aldersley Leisure Village |
| City | Wolverhampton |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | World Snooker Tour |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £385,000 |
| Winner's share | £125,000 |
| Highest break |  Kyren Wilson (ENG) (141) |
| Final | |
| Champion |  Neil Robertson (AUS) |
| Runner-up | Barry Hawkins (ENG) |
| Score | 10–5 |
← 2021 2023 → | |
Zhao Xintong and Hossein Vafaei made their debuts in the event, with Zhao seeded number one after winning the 2021 UK Championship and the 2022 German Masters.[3] Both debutants lost in the first round, with Barry Hawkins defeating Zhao 6–3 and John Higgins beating Vafaei by the same score.[4][5]
Higgins was the defending champion, having beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–3 in the 2021 final.[6] However, Higgins lost 4–6 to Jimmy Robertson in the quarter-finals.[7] The final was contested between Hawkins, who had previously won the tournament in 2014, and Neil Robertson, who had been runner-up in 2012, 2013, and 2019.[8][9] Robertson defeated Hawkins 10–5 in a final that featured five century breaks, four by Robertson and a 137 by Hawkins.[10] It was Robertson's first Players Championship title, the 22nd ranking title of his career, and his third tournament win of the season, following the 2021 English Open and the 2022 Masters.[11]
Prize fund
editThe breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
- Winner: £125,000
- Runner-up: £50,000
- Semi-final: £30,000
- Quarter-final: £15,000
- Last 16: £10,000
- Highest break: £10,000
- Total: £385,000
Seeding list
editThe seedings for the tournament were based on the one-year ranking list up to and including the 2022 German Masters.[1]
| Seed | Player | Total points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Zhao Xintong (CHN)
|
291,000 |
| 2 |  Luca Brecel (BEL)
|
183,000 |
| 3 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
|
175,000 |
| 4 |  Mark Williams (WAL)
|
145,000 |
| 5 |  Mark Allen (NIR)
|
139,500 |
| 6 | Neil Robertson (AUS)
|
118,000 |
| 7 |  John Higgins (SCO)
|
114,000 |
| 8 | David Gilbert (ENG)
|
95,500 |
| 9 | Yan Bingtao (CHN)
|
93,000 |
| 10 |  Hossein Vafaei (IRN)
|
91,500 |
| 11 | Kyren Wilson (ENG)
|
81,000 |
| 12 | Ricky Walden (ENG)
|
78,000 |
| 13 | Gary Wilson (ENG)
|
72,000 |
| 14 | Judd Trump (ENG)
|
68,000 |
| 15 | Jimmy Robertson (ENG)
|
62,500 |
| 16 | Barry Hawkins (ENG)
|
59,500 |
Tournament draw
edit| Last 16 Best of 11 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Final Best of 19 frames | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Zhao Xintong (CHN)
| 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Barry Hawkins (ENG)
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Barry Hawkins
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Yan Bingtao
| 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | David Gilbert (ENG)
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Yan Bingtao (CHN)
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Barry Hawkins
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Ricky Walden
| 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Mark Allen (NIR)
| 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Ricky Walden (ENG)
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Ricky Walden
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Mark Williams
| 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Mark Williams (WAL)
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Gary Wilson (ENG)
| 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Barry Hawkins
| 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Neil Robertson
| 10 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Judd Trump (ENG)
| 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Ronnie O'Sullivan
| 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Neil Robertson
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Neil Robertson (AUS)
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Kyren Wilson (ENG)
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Neil Robertson
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Jimmy Robertson
| 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | John Higgins (SCO)
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Hossein Vafaei (IRN)
| 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | John Higgins
| 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Jimmy Robertson
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Luca Brecel (BEL)
| 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Jimmy Robertson (ENG)
| 6 | |||||||||||||||||
Final
edit| Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Jan Verhaas Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton, England, 13 February 2022 | ||
| Barry Hawkins (16) England
|
5–10 | Neil Robertson (6) Australia
|
| Afternoon: 91–0, 18–64, 55–75, 0–107 (107), 0–105 (105), 0–130 (130), 71–0, 141–0 (137) Evening: 1–90, 1–118, 92–0, 96–26, 15–120 (116), 0–91, 1–77 | ||
| 137 | Highest break | 130 |
| 1 | Century breaks | 4 |
Century breaks
editA total of 25 century breaks were made during the tournament.[12]
- 141 – Kyren Wilson
- 139, 135, 132, 123, 103, 100 – Yan Bingtao
- 137, 126, 115 – Barry Hawkins
- 134, 108, 101 – John Higgins
- 130, 116, 114, 107, 105, 100 – Neil Robertson
- 127 – Ronnie O'Sullivan
- 123 – Ricky Walden
- 107, 103, 102 – Mark Williams
- 102 – Jimmy Robertson
References
edit- ^ a b c "Updated 2021–22 Snooker Calendar". World Snooker Tour. 18 August 2021
- ^ "WST, Matchroom and ITV Agree New Two Year Deal for Broadcast of Four Events". World Snooker Tour. 18 January 2021
- ^ "Zhao Targets More Titles". World Snooker. 4 February 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ "Players Championship Snooker 2022: John Higgins beats Hossein Vafaei to advance to the quarter-finals". Eurosport. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ "Players Championship snooker 2022: Barry Hawkins topples No. 1 seed Zhao Xintong to reach quarter-finals". Eurosport. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ World Snooker Tour (28 February 2021). "Wonderful Higgins Thrashes O'Sullivan". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "Snooker results: Jimmy Robertson beats John Higgins 6-4 at the Players Championship". www.sportinglife.com. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Hawk Flies Through To Final". World Snooker. 11 February 2022. Archived from the original on 11 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Players Championship 2022: Neil Robertson eases past namesake Jimmy to book Barry Hawkins final". Eurosport UK. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Players Championship 2022 - Neil Robertson triumphs over Barry Hawkins to claim another title". Eurosport UK. 13 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
- ^ "Robertson wins Players Championship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ "Cazoo Players Championship 2022 | Centuries". World Snooker Tour. 7–13 February 2022. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.