The 2022 Snooker British Open main draw was in full swing, with O'Sullivan losing 1-4 to Switzerland's Usenbach in the postponed qualifying round, losing his opponent three times in a row. Higgins and defending champion Mark Williams won 4-2 and 4-1 respectively, Selby also won 4-1 and Murphy lost 3-4.
O'Sullivan, the seven-time World Champion, faced off against Swiss player Ussenbach, who had lost both previous meetings, with O'Sullivan facing Ussenbach on both occasions at the 2019 Wales and 2020 British Championships. In the third matchup, Usenbach came up with a single 69 and a 45 to take a 2-0 lead. After winning the third game, O'Sullivan had a chance to complete the comeback in the fourth game after trailing 7-58, but lost the last red ball to lose another game. In the fifth game, Usenbach scored 46 points in a single shot to seal the win, and O'Sullivan lost 1-4 in total for the third consecutive time, and was left out of the main draw.
Higgins took on Andy Hicks, and after his opponent scored a single 110 and 143 points, once trailing 1-2, he completed a three-game comeback with a 4-2 total score to advance, scoring a single 90, 81, 132 and 88 points in the match. Defending champion Mark Williams played Petrov and hit a 76 in the second game to beat his opponent 4-1.
Selby faced Wharton and scored a single 62, 87 and 69 to take the match 4-1. Murphy met Gary Wilson and was tied on three occasions, scoring a single 54, 112 and 79, before losing the deciding game for the black ball to go out 3-4.
Karen Wilson swept Mark Davis 4-0 and Dott faced Breacher and hit a 139 to win 4-1. Lisowski blasted a single 76, 99 and 89 to eliminate Dale 4-1, while Mark Allen and Hawkins crossed the line 4-0 and 4-3 respectively.
