A wonderful week in Berlin draws to a close on Sunday when Mark Williams will take on Graeme Dott in the final of the German Masters inside the Tempodrom for the first ranking title of the calendar year.
Williams will be going in search of a second ranking success of the season after he landed the Northern Ireland Open recently while Dott will be competing in his first ranking final for eight years and looking for his first major since 2007.
Mark Williams
You would have to say that to date Mark Williams has not been challenged in the tournament. It is fair to say that he hasn’t scored the lights out of the competition so far but a combination of sustained accumulation when chances have come his way and a very astute tactical game have meant nobody has got near him.
The latest opponent to succumb was Judd Trump. In fairness Trump had chances in the semi-final but Williams was so clinical that every time Trump came to the table he was under pressure. The one thing that has been noticeable in the competition has been the long potting of Williams so he is clearly hitting the middle of the white.
Graeme Dott
In many ways this week has come from nowhere for Graeme Dott but this is not the first time we’ve seen a surprise finalist and it won’t be the last either. That isn’t to say Dott doesn’t deserve his place in this final because he does and having been 3-0 down in the first round and 4-0 down in the quarter final you wonder if he is free-rolling subconsciously.
Although he has been well behind a couple of times in the tournament Dott has scored solidly throughout. He has 13 50 breaks and the century he hit in the semi-final which in winning just 21 frames thus far is decent scoring. When you add a decent safety game and a fighting spirit to that we can see why he’s in this final.
Head to Head
These two have met 15 times in their career with Williams having much the better of their previous meetings. He has won 11 and lost just four and most of their two session matches he has come out on top in as well. If you include the Championship League, Williams has won the last five matches between the two so Dott is swimming against history in this final.
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Betting
I like two bets for this final. I think we’ll get a tight conclusion to this tournament. We’ve seen all week the fighter that Graeme Dott is and while Mark Williams comes across as all laid back he has an inner steel and determination to win as well so neither of these two are going to let this go easily. Both thrived in the one-table set up on Saturday and look to be cueing well so over 14.5 frames looks an obvious bet.
I’ll also have a few quid on Dott to make the highest break. We know that throughout his career Williams has never been bothered about running up the huge numbers when it comes to break building and as such he has made just the one ton and eight 50s this week. Dott has five more 50s to that and a ton of his own which is the highest break either of the pair has made. It might not need a ton to nail this market but Dott will want to spend as much time at the table as possible in this arena and those extra few colours he may pot could bring the high break in this final his way.
Tips
Back Over 14.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with William Hill
Back it here:
Back G.Dott Highest Break for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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