European Masters 2022 | Day Three Preview and Order of Play
Judd Trump resumes his quest for a third European Masters title against Kurt Maflin in the second round on Wednesday.
The Ace was a back-to-back champion of this event in 2016 and 2017, beating Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stuart Bingham in the respective finals.
Trump has endured two contrasting matches so far at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes this week.
First, he produced a top break of 129 to complete a comprehensive 5-0 whitewash of Michael Judge, but found himself in trouble at 4-2 down against Jak Jones, who compiled two centuries along the way.
Nevertheless, the 22-time ranking event winner responded in trademark fashion with runs of 73, 83 and 98 scraping him over the line.
Next up for Trump is a showdown with former World Championship quarter-finalist Maflin, who recovered from 4-3 down to defeat 2007 Welsh Open runner-up Andrew Higginson 5-4 on Tuesday.
O’Sullivan also required a deciding frame to see off Zhang Anda in the opening round, having allegedly struggled with the lighting during the contest.
The Rocket now faces another Chinese opponent in Wu Yize, who went close to compiling a maximum in his 5-3 win over Fergal O’Brien – breaking down on 112 when he missed the final red.
John Higgins faces a potential banana skin in Tom Ford, who defeated the four-time World champion at the World Grand Prix in December, while Kyren Wilson takes on Fan Zhengyi.
Three former finalists of this event are in action. Martin Gould, who was runner-up to Mark Selby in last season’s edition, faces Fraser Patrick, while 2018 and 2020 runners-up Joe Perry and Zhou Yuelong clash with Yan Bingtao and Graeme Dott respectively.
Anthony McGill was in free-scoring form in his 5-0 whitewash of Hossein Vafaei. The two-time ranking event winner will be targeting more of the same against Mitchell Mann, who also reeled off five frames without reply against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
Scottish Open champion Luca Brecel plays Sunny Akani, while Welsh Open winner Jordan Brown’s reward for dethroning Selby is a showdown with Xiao Guodong.
Two-time Crucible finalist Ali Carter takes on Ashley Hugill, with three-time ranking event winner Ryan Day facing Ashley Carty.
Play gets underway at 10am GMT on Wednesday with all matches contested over the best of nine frames at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
WATCH DAY THREE OF EUROPEAN MASTERS STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)
European Masters 2022 Day Three Schedule of Play
Wednesday February 23
Round Two
10am
37 Jordan Brown v Xiao Guodong
38 Zhou Yuelong v Graeme Dott
39 Luca Brecel v Sunny Akani
40 Ryan Day v Ashley Carty
2.30pm
45 Ronnie O’Sullivan v Wu Yize
46 Ali Carter v Ashley Hugill
47 Martin Gould v Fraser Patrick
48 John Higgins v Tom Ford
7pm
41 Kyren Wilson v Fan Zhengyi
42 Yan Bingtao v Joe Perry
51 Anthony McGill v Mitchell Mann
52 Judd Trump v Kurt Maflin