Welcome to one of the smaller (that’s saying a lot, considering how much every ranking event has grown) and one of zee most exciting and atmospheric ranking tournaments in the calendar. Zee German Masters has been ever present since 2011 in Berlin and almost every player loved how passionate the crowds are in zee packed arena. We’ve had Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Ali Carter, Ding Junhui and Mark Selby winning a title here and now zee event provides greater interest since Martin Gould and Anthony Hamilton won their first ranking titles here, bringing a sense that this is more open than the others. Zee fact that such a respected veteran in Zee Sheriff of Pottingham will be defending zee title brings a lot of respect and this will be a great one (I’ll stop it now).
Since the first two rounds have already been played, all the light shines on just 32 players rather than 64, making the event more exclusive and special. While the top names of the season Yan Bingtao and Kyren Wilson fell at the first hurdle and top names Ali Carter and Neil Robertson failed to make it, we see lesser known names hoping to impress. Feels weird to write a shorter preview……..
Anthony Hamilton vs. Jimmy Robertson
Gary Wilson vs. Martin Gould
Fergal O’Brien vs. Mark Williams
Matthew Selt vs. Mark Allen
Anthony Hamilton starts his defence against someone who he has a worse head-to-head record. Weirdly, they haven’t played each other in five years and Jimmy has always been a slippery customer. It is just the case of whether Anthony can handle a pressure of defending his title – something he hasn’t felt before as well as struggling with back problems. He says that he will enjoy it as much as he can and act like it’s just another event. Link here: http://www.worldsnooker.com/hamilton-buzzing-berlin-defence/
Former champion Martin Gould will be high in confidence after scoring his first maximum break in the most recent Championship League, which he also won. He will be against Gary Wilson, who got past Stephen Maguire and David Grace to be in Berlin. Northern Ireland winner Mark Williams and newly-crowned Masters champion Mark Allen (or as Dennis Taylor calls him: Mark Williams) will also contest. It will be interesting to see what kind of confidence Allen will take from the Masters and if he will play as if he has that monkey off his back. We will soon know.
Quarter-final winner: Martin Gould vs. Mark Allen
Ding Junhui vs. Michael Georgiou
Jack Lisowski vs. Ricky Walden
Joe Perry vs. Yu Delu
Ben Woollaston vs. Judd Trump
Ding and Judd are mysterious people this season. Both with titles to their name, yet are not performing to their best compared to past seasons. Ding had two recent first round losses to Leo Fernandez and Ryan Day in the UK Championship and Masters respectively while Judd lost 6-2 to Graeme Dott in the UK Championship and more shockingly to Jak Jones in the China Open Qualifiers. Both have ties where they should be comfortable with based of head-to-heads in an event where both players have had success in but now they do have an air of vulnerability in them. Georgiou beat Kyren Wilson and Ian Burns to get there, proving he’s no slouch.
Then we go onto the ones that could spring a surprise. Ricky Walden got a lot of effective practice in the Championship League to get himself up to speed and will certainly be looking to get back into the Top 16 because of his injury problems. He is against Lisowski, who will likely play with more freedom now his fears of relegation from tour are now gone. Perry has a decent crack at this too, as he is against an out-of-form Yu Delu, who recently lost to Duane Jones in the China Open Qualifiers.
Quarter-final winner: Ding Junhui vs. Joe Perry
Niu Zhuang vs. Mark Davis
Ryan Day vs. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
David Gilbert vs. Mark Joyce
Alan McManus vs. Shaun Murphy
Niu Zhuang is the lowest seed in the German Masters at No. 106, reaching the Last 32 for the first time. Not much is known about this rookie. He has won six times this season and he got here by beating Ian Preece and coming back from 4-1 down to beat Rory McLeod in the decider at 5-4. He’s never played Mark Davis yet, so goodness know what might happen here. They will play next in the match between Ryan Day and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, which should be a cracking match for long-potting enthusiasts. Ryan has reached the quarter-finals in his last four attempts, so he must feel rather at home.
David Gilbert and Mark Joyce are a pair that have had fairly consistent seasons so far. Joyce has had the better season, with three ranking quarter-final appearances this season to Gilbert’s two. Though Gilbert does boast a better head-to-head record with four wins out of five, Joyce beat him 6-4 at their recent meeting in the UK Championship. Murphy is of course one of the players of the season with many finals and a trophy under his belt and is against an out-of-sorts McManus, who has struggled to perform this season, with only one Last 16 appearance to his name. Would be a good time if any to pull off a shock!
Quarter-final winner: Ryan Day vs. Shaun Murphy
Barry Hawkins vs. Graeme Dott
Hammad Miah vs. Mei Xiwen
Tom Ford vs. Liang Wenbo
Xiao Guodong vs. Mark Selby
Barry hasn’t been on good form at all this season, losing to a number of low-ranked players such as Akani Songsermsawad (thank you, got that in one) and Chris Wakelin and wasn’t helped by losing to eventual finalist Kyren Wilson in the first round of the Masters. No. 26 seed Dott has really stuck into the Top 32 for a while. Though he hasn’t shone this season, he has beaten quality players in Soheil Vahedi and Peter Ebdon to come here, as well as romping home to beat Judd Trump in the UK Championship 6-2. No. 76 Miah and No. 68 Mei have never met in professional competition in this low-ranking affair. Miah has lost more than won, but smashed through Luca Brecel (5-1)prodigy Zhao Xintong (5-3) in very convincing fashion. Mei won his two-year card last season by reaching the Last 16 of the Shanghai Masters and the Last 32 of the UK Championship and Scottish Open and so far has continued to impress by beating Duffy and Jimmy Robertson to reach the Last 16 of the Shanghai Masters.
Tom Ford has only ever beaten Liang once and that was in the Championship League. Liang has been very lukewarm but his fightback against Judd Trump from 5-1 to 5-4 with breaks of139, 116, 80, 58, 51 shows that he can perform and that will settle the nerves. Selby needs to state as the reigning World Champion and current No. 1 that he is back after his early exits in the UK Championship and the Masters. He faces in a tough opponent in Xiao Guodong, whose best performance was the quarter-finals in the Scottish Open. Let’s not forget – Selby beat Xiao in the World Championships in the 2017 World Championship where Selby came out on top 13-6. Could Xiao take revenge?
Quarter-final winner: Graeme Dott vs. Mark Selby
German Masters winner: Ding Junhui vs. Shaun Murphy
The German Masters will take place between 31st January 2018 – 4th February 2018.
