It is semi-final day at the German Masters with both matches taking place inside the Tempodrom in Berlin on Saturday as we find out which two men will compete in the final of the opening ranking event of 2025.
We have two standout top 16 players on show in the semi-finals and two dangerous Chinese outsiders looking to cause an upset so everything is nicely poised as we head into the best of 11 contests to determine our finalists.
Afternoon Session
Xiao Guodong vs Kyren Wilson
The opening semi-final of the day looks to be the pick of the matches as two men with three titles between them this season battle it out when the Wuhan Open winner Xiao Guodong takes on the Xi’an Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open champion Kyren Wilson.
Wilson added those titles to the world crown he won back in May and he’ll be looking for another German Masters title over the weekend. You couldn’t really say he has played fantastically this week, but like many champions do he has delivered the goods when his back has been against the wall. He found himself 3-3 with Ka Wai Cheung in the opening round and then trailed Jak Jones and Anthony McGill 3-1 in the last two rounds but clicked into gear at the right time. That hasn’t really been the case for Guodong. He had a couple of battles with fellow Chinese players in the earlier rounds but he has beaten Elliot Slessor and Aaron Hill in the last two matches for the loss of just one frame. The one thing you would say about that is he hasn’t faced anything like a player as tough as Wilson. I still expect the Chinese star to make something of this semi-final, although I’m fully aware that Wilson can click into gear at any minute. I was hoping to get on board over 9.5 frames but at even money bookmakers have that priced up properly so I’ll watch the opening game rather than bet on it.
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Evening Session
Yuan Sijun vs Barry Hawkins
The second semi-final is a bit of a contrast to the first one on paper as Barry Hawkins looks to make it into a second ranking event final in the space of eight weeks when he takes on a Yuan Sijun who is bidding to make it through to his first major final.
Sijun certainly deserves his place in this semi-final. He has beaten Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson in the last two rounds and that is probably the standout piece of form of any of the semi-finalists but this will be the first major semi-final he has been in and this arena is completely different over the weekend so he’ll need to deal with the nerves and the occasion accordingly. Hawkins doesn’t need to worry about that. He is a seasoned campaigner in that regard and he has played some really nice stuff since he outlasted Alfie Burden in a first round match which won’t live long in the memory of either man. Hawkins beat Wu Yize in the quarter finals which was a really good result and that all follows up his run to the final of the UK Championship where he was in equally good form. I think the fact that he will be comfortable in the surroundings will certainly help him here. Sijun did well to beat Neil Robertson on Friday evening but he did give the Australian plenty of chances and looked to be feeling the heat when it came to getting over the line and those are traits which I would expect Hawkins to pounce on and win this one with at least a frame to spare.
Tips
Back B.Hawkins (-1.5 frames) to beat Y.Sijun for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
Back him here:
