Snooker, Gibraltar Open 2022: where to watch, schedule, favorites

The Gibraltar Open starts on March 24th. This is an annual rating tournament where the best snooker players of the planet gather. The matches will take place over two days (with a one-day break), and now you can get acquainted with the detailed grid and layouts for the tournament.

For many years, the Russians didn’t wonder about where to find broadcasts of the main snooker tournaments, since Eurosport used to air in huge volumes. But after the channel stopped broadcasting in the country, a problem arose.

It will be possible to watch the Gibraltar Open for a paid subscription in the Eurosport Player app. Some betting agencies’ sites and apps will broadcast the tournament for free. It will become known a little closer to the beginning of the tournament.

Check out our expert betting tips for Gibraltar Open 2022!

The first matches of the Gibraltar Open will take place on March 24 at 11:30. And on this day, three stages of the tournament will take place at once - 1/64, 1/32 and 1/16. Matches at all stages last up to four won frames. According to the rating, snooker players are divided into 8 sections. Participants of different sections can meet with each other, starting from the quarter-final stage. You can find the start time of the stages in the table below:

The Gibraltar Open was first held in 2015, but was originally organized under the auspices of the Players Tour Championship. This series no longer exists, but it used to organize low-ranking snooker tournaments. After 7 years, the Gibraltar Open is a ranking competition that gathers athletes of the highest level. Jud Trump, the current champion of the Gibraltar Open, until recently was the first in the world ranking of snooker players, and now occupies the third position. The upcoming tournament could help him move up the rankings.

The vast majority of snooker players participating in the tournament will represent England. More precisely, 70 of the 128 athletes who will play in the initial stage, 70 will perform under the English flag. Adding Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales representatives (a country of the United Kingdom), then their number will reach 87. Quite a lot of snooker players will come from China - 22 (+1 person from Hong Kong).

The last two tournaments were left to the Englishman Jud Trump. To be honest, this position is quite ambiguous. You can bet on his success for odds of 5.5, which is a fairly high figure. He is being followed by his compatriot, world number two Ronnie O'Sullivan. His victory is estimated at odds of 7.0. The victory of the Australian Neil Robertson is estimated at 4.

We noted the prospects of the world's top snooker players, but didn’t mention Mark Selby, the leader of the world rankings. What's wrong with him and why won't he take part in the tournament? The fact is that Mark is experiencing mental problems and cannot play yet. He recently had a relapse and is now working with specialists.

I want to apologize to my family and friends for letting them down. I am not in the best psychological state, I recently had a relapse. Trying to contain it by putting on a brave face is not an option. I promise that I will seek help and become better.

Mark Selby