2022 European Masters: Third Round Predictions

The 2022 European Masters is heating up. We have reached the last 16 players hoping to advance to the quarter-finals. Players crashing out of the tournament at this stage won’t leave empty-handed though. Eight players will receive £6,000 for their efforts so far, however, reaching the next round would almost double their prize money at £11,000.

We give our predictions for the upcoming eight matches and share the full fixture list for Round 3 which you can find below.

The Fixtures for the 2022 European Masters

In the tables below, you can find the full list of fixtures for Round 3.

Top Half

Bottom Half

Our Match Predictions

We now turn our attention to our predictions for the third round matches of the 2022 European Masters.

Matches to Look Out For

You can find our predictions and thoughts about all the matches below, which could be useful if you are planning to place some bets.

Jordan Brown vs Graeme Dott

Jordan Brown is going from strength to strength in this tournament. After his huge upset against the world number one Mark Selby causing him to crash out in Round 1, he has outperformed yet again against Ziao Guodong. It was a whitewash for Brown, defeating Guodong 5-0. A highlight from his match was in the third game where in a single shot, Brown managed to score 51 points, taking his lead to 3-0.

Things were not looking so hopeful for Graeme Dott in his Round 2 match against Zhou Yeulong. The ‘Jumping Dragon’ Yeulong was leading 4-2, however, in the second half Dott took the lead. It came down to a nail-biting tie break with Dott winning with a single shot.

Brown and Dott have played twice since 2019, with both men winning one apiece with a score of 5-2 each time. Both players are on form this season and have a very similar ‘frames won’ percentage. Dott edges slightly ahead with 53.55% compared to Brown’s 53.18%.

The competition is tough for this match; however, we can’t ignore how strong Brown has been in the tournament so far. This is why we back him for the win.

Our match prediction: Jordan Brown to win.

Sunny Akani vs Ryan Day

Sunny Akani and Ryan Day both clung onto their position in the European Masters with their success riding on the tie-breaking frame. Akani achieved two 50+ breaks with the highest at 58. Day added another century break of 117 to his total of 407. For the current season, ‘Dynamite’ Day has a ‘frames won’ percentage of 50% compared to ‘The Sunshine Kid’s 51.89%.

Day and Akani have a short history together, playing just two previous matches. Akani is yet to win a match, conceding 1-5 and 4-5. We think Day will be able to make it a hattrick and progress to the next round.

Our match prediction: Ryan Day to win.

Fan Zhengyi vs Yan Bingtao

Another firm favourite for the tournament, Kyren Wilson suffered a surprise knock out by 21 year old Fan Zhengyi. Down to a deciding frame, Zhengyi held his nerve to deliver the defeating blow to Wilson with a break of 66. Zhengyi was close to a 147 in frame five, however came up short after missing the brown on a score of 125.

22 year old Yan Bingtao took the victory over Joe Perry with a score of 5-2. The former Masters champion had a top run of 93 and added two more 50+ breaks to his total. Yan ‘The Tiger’ Bingtao is on incredible form this season with a ‘frames won’ percentage of 61.68%, towering over Zhengi’s 49.51%.

This will be the second time for the players to meet and a change for Zhengi to even the scores. We are excited to see the young talent play and would certainly put their names on the snooker map. For this match, we are backing Bingtao for the win.

Our match prediction: Yan Bingtao to win.

David Gilbert vs Pang Junxu

In a fantastic twist of events, Pang Junxu is the next player to knock out another tournament favourite. Neil Robertson crashed out in a 5-4 defeat and joins Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson, and Judd Trump watching the rest of the tournament from the side lines. Junxu made four 50+ breaks with the highest run at 90 and one century break at 101. The 22 year old only turned professional in 2020 and for this season has a ‘frames won’ percentage of 52.17%.

For Dave Gilbert, it came down to the deciding frame against Barry Hawkins to see which player would progress to the next round. Gilbert didn’t achieve any 50+ or century breaks, however his lowest winning score for a frame was 55 with the highest being 90. Gilbert is having a fantastic season with a ‘frames won’ rate of 60.38%.

Gilbert and Junxu’s next match will be the first of the two players, so it will be interesting to see the game unfold between the two great snooker players. Junxu’s upset over Robertson was laudable, however, we don’t think he will be able to take on Gilbert.

Our match prediction: David Gilbert to win.

Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Ashley Hugill

Ronnie O’Sullivan didn’t have to put up too much of a fight against Wu Yize in Round 2. The 18 year old only managed to win one frame where he managed a top break of 56. The world’s number two player O’Sullivan achieved yet another century break in the sixth frame bringing the record total up to 1,137. This completely overshadows John Higgins’ who sits in second place at 876. Ronnie ‘The Rocket’ O’Sullivan used his experience to capitalise on some errors made by Yize, achieving a comfortable win of 5-1.

Ashley Hugill also cruised into Round 3 after a 5-1 win over two-time world champion finalist Ali Carter. He achieved three 50+ breaks with the highest in fifth round at 86. Hugill has sprung a fair few upsets over his opponents in the tournament so far and unseating six-time world champion O’Sullivan would certainly be a huge talking point of the event.

O’Sullivan and Hugill are yet to play together, so we are incredibly interested to see how their maiden match unfolds. Of course, O’Sullivan is one of the favourites in this tournament, so we are still backing him for the victory. However, we have seen many other high-ranking players crash out, so everything is to play for.

Our match prediction: Ronnie O’Sullivan to win.

Fraser Patrick vs Tom Ford

In a shocking turn of events, Tom Ford achieved a 5-0 whitewash over four-time world champion John Higgins. Higgins didn’t have the chance to get off the ground, only scoring 50 points in total, with Ford hitting four 50+ breaks with the highest run reaching 127 in the fifth frame. Ford’s pressure from the start and on-form playing was enough to stop Higgins getting an edge-in.

108th ranked Fraser Patrick marginally edged ahead of 22nd ranked Martin Gould with the result hanging in the balance in the tie-breaking frame. Patrick hit a break of 71 and ended with a final score in the frame of 97, leaving Gould without any points.

Patrick’s ‘frame won’ percentage for this season is lower than Ford’s with 41.25% compared to 55.49%. Looking over their history however shows both players have won one match each. Ford, on paper, is the better player so we will back him to reach the quarter-finals.

Our match prediction: Tom Ford to win.

Liang Wenbo vs Yuan Sijun

After a close match in Round 1 for Liang Wenbo, ‘The Firecracker’ produced a 5-0 whitewash over Noppon Saengkham in Round 2. Wenbo achieved two 50+ breaks and one century break with a run of 131. With a current ranking of 35 in the world, Wenbo will be looking to add to his singular ranking title. In his season so far, Wenbo has a fairly good percentage for ‘frames won’ currently at 56.95%.

Yuan Sijun defeated Ricky Walden by 5-2. Sijun added a century break to his total with a run of 102. Sijun started strong with a 3-0 lead until the fourth frame that was won by Walden by three points. The 22 year old has a 50% ‘frames won’ percentage, so clocks in a fair bit under Wenbo.

The two Chinese players haven’t played against each other yet, so it will be interesting to see what unfolds in their maiden game. Wenbo has 12 years of additional experience for professional snooker, so we should see a fairly confident winning performance from him. For this reason, Wenbo becomes our choice for this match.

Our match prediction: Liang Wenbo to win.

Anthony McGill vs Kurt Maflin

Kurt Maflin surprisingly defeated Judd Trump who was among one of the favourites to win the tournament. Trump had consecutive wins at the European Masters in 2016 and 2017. After a strong start form Maflin, Trump pulled the score back to 2-1. Maflin ‘The Viking’ dominated the next frames with scores of 79, 72, and 92, which almost took him to victory, with the tipping point in the eighth frame with a score of 72-37.

Anthony McGill dominated his match against Mitchell Mann with a final score of 5-1. The ‘Glaswegian Gladiator’ McGill didn’t hold back as he led 4-0, with only the fifth frame going to Mann.

In their five match history, Maflin has only taken two victories. McGill is the more decorated player with two ranking titles to his name as well as a ‘frames won’ percentage of 52.12%. If Maflin were to win this tournament, this would be his first ranking title. His ‘frames won’ percentage sits lower at 49.02%. We absolutely have to back the better player, so we are predicting McGill to win.

Our match prediction: Anthony McGill to win.