The 2022 Turkish Masters (officially the 2022 Nirvana Turkish Masters) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 7 to 13 March 2022 at the Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel in Antalya, Turkey. The 13th ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, it was the inaugural staging of the Turkish Masters and the first time that a professional snooker event had been staged in Turkey. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place from 27 September to 3 October 2021, but the World Snooker Tour postponed it until March 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 Turkey wildfires. Qualification matches were played from 2 to 6 February 2022 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. The tournament was broadcast by Turkish Radio and Television Corporation domestically in Turkey, and Eurosport in Europe.
Judd Trump won the event, defeating Matthew Selt 10–4 in the final, to capture his 23rd ranking title and his first ranking tournament of the season. He made a maximum break, the sixth of his career and the highest of the tournament, in the 10th frame of the final.
Format
The event was the first edition of the Turkish Masters, the first time a snooker world ranking event was played in Turkey. It took place from 7 to 13 March 2022 at the Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel in Antalya. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it was the 13th ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, following the Welsh Open and preceding the Gibraltar Open. Originally scheduled to take place from 27 September to 3 October 2021, it was postponed until March 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 Turkey wildfires. This postponement also affected the qualifying round, which was held from 2 to 6 February 2022 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester. The tournament was broadcast by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation in Turkey and Eurosport in Europe. The event was also shown on Liaoning TV, Superstar online, Kuaishou, Migu, Youku and Huya.com in China; Premier Sports Network in the Philippines; Now TV in Hong Kong; True Sport in Thailand; Sports Cast in Taiwan; and Astro SuperSports in Malaysia. In all other territories, the event was available from Matchroom Sport.
World number two Ronnie O'Sullivan declined to enter the tournament because he was not offered any additional financial incentive. WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson stated that although he was disappointed by O'Sullivan's decision, the governing body had to maintain a level playing field and would not offer players extra money to appear in tournaments. World number four Neil Robertson and reigning world champion Mark Selby both withdrew for personal reasons. This meant that three of the top four players in the world rankings did not participate.
Prize fund
There was a total prize fund of £500,000, with the winner receiving £100,000. A breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
Winner: £100,000
Runner-up: £45,000
Semi-final: £20,000
Quarter-final: £12,500
Last 16: £7,500
Last 32: £5,500
Last 64: £3,500
Highest break: £5,000
Total: £500,000
Summary
Opening ceremony incident
Robert Milkins arrived intoxicated at the tournament's opening ceremony, held at the Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel on 6 March, after drinking heavily to celebrate his birthday. He had verbal altercations with other players and hotel guests, attempted to punch WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson, fell and cut his chin in the toilets, and was taken to hospital by fellow professional Jimmy Robertson, where he had his stomach pumped. Although Milkins apologised to the event organisers and hotel management for his behaviour, he stated that he narrowly avoided being removed from the tournament. The World Snooker Tour referred Milkins to the sport's governing body over the incident. At a disciplinary hearing, Milkins accepted that he had brought the sport into disrepute with his behaviour and breached his player's contract with World Snooker Ltd. He was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay an additional £1,000 for the costs of the hearing. Milkins later disclosed that he had received counseling after the incident through footballer Tony Adams’ mental health charity Sporting Chance. He credited the counselling with helping him turn his career around. Milkins subsequently won his first two ranking titles at the 2022 Gibraltar Open and the 2023 Welsh Open.
