Hot on the heels of what was a wonderful few days at the Snooker Shootout, the circuit moves to Berlin this week for the German Masters which takes place inside the Tempodrom with the event beginning on Wednesday.
Zhao Xintong added this title to his UK Championship crown last season and while he came through qualifying for the main draw, he won’t be defending the trophy as he has since been suspended so we are guaranteed a different winner.
Recent Winners
2022 – Zhao Xintong
2021 – Judd Trump
2020 – Judd Trump
2019 – Kyren Wilson
2018 – Mark Williams
2017 – Anthony Hamilton
2016 – Martin Gould
2015 – Mark Selby
2014 – Ding Junhui
2013 – Ali Carter
The Format
The first round, second round and the quarter finals are the best of nine frames this week, with some players having to play twice on Friday. Those who make it to the semi-finals on Saturday will compete over the best of 11 frames and then the champion will be crowned on Sunday when the finalists face off across two sessions and the new format of the best of 19 frames.
Top Quarter
This would have been the quarter where the number one seed Zhao Xintong would have looked to make a successful defence of his title from but his absence means that won’t happen. Only one other top 16 player made it through the qualifying competition. That is the former champion Kyren Wilson, who is actually the last man who have won this title who will be here this week with Judd Trump having failed to come through the initial phase of the event.
Zhao Jianbo was also scheduled to be in this quarter but he is another who has been suspended which leaves us with five players in this quarter aside from Wilson. Anthony McGill is the leading ranked player among them while Tom Ford and Jimmy Robertson are the two men who get byes through to the last 16. The other two players in this quarter are Tian Pengfei and the in form Sam Craigie who could be dangerous here.
Second Quarter
It was absolute carnage in the qualifying competition in this second quarter of the draw. Usually when we do outright previews it is this section which is always the most competitive looking but that isn’t the case this time around with so many big names having failed to get here. There is just one top 16 player who has made it through and that is The Masters semi-finalist Jack Lisowski who will hope to take advantage of the draw opening up to win his first tournament.
The big news from qualifying was that Jimmy White came through it and his reward for doing so was to be placed in this quarter of the draw. The Scottish Open finalist Joe O’Connor will hope to have another opportunity to go deep from this quarter while the Chinese trio of Fan Zhengyi, Xiao Guodong and Peng Yisong will be looking for a big few days as well. Elliot Slessor and another Chinese player in Zhang Anda are the other two players in the quarter.
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Third Quarter
Neil Robertson was one of those who avoided all the carnage at the qualifying competition at the back end of last year and he takes his place in the third quarter as a result of that. Only one other top 16 player managed to join him from this section though and that is the former finalist in this tournament in Luca Brecel, the English Open finalist from this season who will be looking to continue his love affair with Berlin.
This is another quarter where everyone who qualified will be in situ and three current title holders catch the eye in it. The most recent tournament winner is here in the form of the Shootout champion Chris Wakelin. Joe Perry will defend his Welsh Open title later in the month but he plays here first, while Gibraltar Open winner Robert Milkins is also in this quarter. Shootout semi-finalist Daniel Wells, his fellow Welsh player Matthew Stevens and Si Jiahui complete the third quarter draw.
Bottom Quarter
There was even more carnage in the bottom quarter of the draw at the qualifying competition. Ronnie O’Sullivan was initially in this part of the bracket but withdrew before qualifying started, while Barry Hawkins and Mark Williams came a cropper before the event got to Berlin. The one top 16 player who did make it through was Yan Bingtao but we won’t be seeing him either because he is another of the Chinese contingent who are suspended.
We are actually left with just six players in this quarter at the beginning of the week because Li Hang had also made it through to the main draw but his suspension will deny him the chance to take his place. The pick of the six men who are in it are former world finalist Ali Carter, winner here 10 years ago, and Ricky Walden. Cao Yupeng and Louis Heathcote have the chance of a big week as Pang Junxu and the amateur Ross Muir for whom this could be a huge week.
Betting
I’ll take a player at either end of the draw this week with the main bet coming in the bottom half in the form of Ricky Walden, a player who has had a bit of a touch in that Yan Bingtao, his first round opponent, is suspended and therefore Walden gets a bye into the last 16. We saw last season and the one before that Walden is getting his groove back and is pushing for titles again. He hasn’t had the best campaign so far this term but these outright markets are all about the best drawn dog not the best dog in the field and there is no getting away from the draw Walden has. He will now face either Pang Junxu or Ross Muir for a place in the quarter final where Ali Carter is the toughest opponent. Once we get into the semis this one will be wide open so at 12/1 I think he’s worth a bet.
In the top half, Tom Ford is another who has got a bye because his first round opponent has been suspended. That send him into the last 16 where Tian Pengfei or Anthony McGill will be waiting for him. Ford has a tougher draw this week but it certainly isn’t one which he can’t navigate and you would imagine that he is ready to win a title of this kind. He was a semi-finalist at the UK Championship earlier in the season and although it is a lottery event he was hitting the ball nicely at the Shootout last week. I think there is enough juice in the 33/1 that Ford, who was a semi-finalist in this event a couple of years ago, pushes for the title here.
Tips
Back R.Walden to win German Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back T.Ford to win German Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 34.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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