The German Masters has rattled through at a hefty rate and after four days of pulsating action we are down to the final which will be played across two sessions of action inside the Tempodrom in Berlin.
The final isn’t the one anyone would have thought it would be either as despite all the big names who arrived in the German city at the start of the tournament it is Ali Carter and Anthony Hamilton who will fight it out for the title.
Ali Carter
The former champion Ali Carter will be looking to become the first man to get his hands on this title for a second time and in truth apart from having to survive a scare from Zhao Xintong in the second round he has cruised into this final. That may or may not be a good thing depending on how much of a battle this turns into but it does at least show that he is in decent touch.
Carter has hit three centuries in the tournament so far which backs up the 147 he made in qualifying so he has been scoring really well in this competition but he wasn’t at his fluent best in the semi-final and you just wonder if that was down to the pressure of being expected to win this tournament now.
Anthony Hamilton
There will be no more popular a winner of a ranking event than Anthony Hamilton should he come through here and in a season where an evergreen veteran has won his first ranking tournament in Mark King it would be kind of fitting if the experienced Hamilton should win his first major title this season too.
Hamilton has made it to this final the hard way. He has taken care of the world numbers one and two in Mark Selby and Stuart Bingham and he has beaten two other top 16 members in Mark Williams and Barry Hawkins to make it into his first ranking event final in 15 years. Opportunities like this won’t come around too many more times and he’ll know that.
Head to Head
There have only been eight matches between these two in the past with Carter winning five of them to Hamilton’s two. They have also drawn one as well. Their biggest match was in the 2009 Welsh Open final which Carter won in a deciding frame.
Betting
Whoever wins this there will be a fantastic story. Ali Carter will win a second ranking event in a season for the first time in his career which after everything he has been through would be amazing while Anthony Hamilton would claim an elusive and well deserved first ranking title of his long career.
I’m not sure which way I think this final will go although given the draw he has come through I wouldn’t be surprised if Anthony Hamilton has his name on the trophy but the odds for the final look about right.
I will take Hamilton to hit the highest break in this final though. Hamilton is renowned throughout the game as a heavy scorer and with a little less pressure on him in this final I can see him coming out and enjoying himself and nailing a big break somewhere along the line. It will be all about business for Carter not looking flashy so the 11/10 on Hamilton to make the highest break looks good to me.
Tips
WON – Back A.Hamilton Highest Break for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
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