The German Masters gets underway on Wednesday and it does so at one of the most popular stops on tour as the Tempodrom in Berlin is the stage for some of the best players in the world to play their first round matches.
We have two sessions of play on Wednesday with everyone taking to the baize looking for the five frames which will get them into the last 16. We have some stars on show to enjoy over the course of what should be a good first day of action.
Afternoon Session
We have no fewer than three tournament winners this season already on show in the afternoon session on Wednesday. The pick of the matches sees two of those going up against each other when the UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong will take on the British Open champion Mark Williams in what should be a pearler of a contest. The other high profile match will see Kyren Wilson looking to take a step closer to regaining the title when he takes on Jimmy Robertson, who himself is having a good campaign.
The other tournament winner this term in action in this session is the Scottish Open winner Luca Brecel. The UK Championship finalist has been in good touch and has been to the final of this event in the past and will get his latest campaign underway against Zhang Anda. The other match is a pretty big one with regards automatic qualification for the Crucible as Anthony McGill meets Zhou Yuelong in a very appealing contest.
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Evening Session
There were meant to be four matches in the evening session as well but with Gao Yang having withdrawn from the tournament we are down to just the three now with the headline act on show being Neil Robertson. The Australian will play his first match since winning The Masters when he takes on a Ricky Walden who has already beaten Robertson this season and will fancy his chances again if he can hit the ground running after the Christmas break.
Two other matches will be on show around the arena and the better of the two looks to be the one between the seasoned campaigners Tom Ford and Stephen Maguire. The other one offers up a massive chance for two men to do their career the world of good when the sole remaining amateur in the field, Michael Georgiou, meets Craig Steadman whose ranking could get a significant boost if he can come through here.
Betting
I’ll go with the one bet over the course of the opening day on Wednesday. That comes in the form of Stephen Maguire to beat Tom Ford. If you follow Ford on any of his socials you’ll know he took a holiday over the Christmas break which is fair enough but it might mean he is a little rusty in this match and I’m not sure he can afford to be against a Maguire who has already beaten the Leicester man 4-0 at the Scottish Open last month.
Ford scored just 28 points in that match in what was a demolition from Maguire and having competed at The Masters a couple of weeks ago we know the Scot has been active throughout Christmas and after it. To be fair to Ford he beat John Higgins and Judd Trump at the end of 2021 but he looked rusty at the Shootout last week and if he takes any time to get going here Maguire could well be away and gone like he was in their last meeting. I sense Maguire is coming to the boil after his run to the quarter final of the Scottish Open and World Grand Prix and I think he’ll win this.
Tips
Back S.Maguire to beat T.Ford for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
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