So, here we are. Now that we have settled down after the excitement of the Dafabet Masters and the Championship League (sort of), we have the first ranking event of the season! We go to Berlin for the popular German Masters!
A ranking event since 2011, the German Masters has always been a popular event. Its local fans has earned the reputation of being incredibly passionate and knowledgable, which is fantastic to see. It also has an illustrious line of winners too. Selby, O’Sullivan, Carter and Ding won the event here. Martin Gould and Anthony Hamilton made history by winning their first ranking titles here. Now two-time German Masters champion Mark Williams will defend his crown against 31 other qualifiers this week!
We are being treated to a number of brilliant matches in just the first round alone. Maflin vs. Robertson, Xiao vs. Day and Williams vs. Zhou should be crackers. It will be interesting to see how much practice The Welsh Potting Machine put in after his first-round defeat in the Masters. Li vs. Trump will also be interesting, considering that Trump has a very good record at the German Masters but hasn’t beaten Li in two occasions. Also, if he recovers from his Masters victory hangover too.
Nowadays, there is always something else on the line besides ranking points and winning a title. A place at the World Grand Prix is at stake! Basically, those in the Top 32 of the one-year ranking list will qualify and many seeds have yet to be decided. For example, Zhou Yuelong and Robert Milkins need two wins to overtake Gary Wilson, who is holding onto the No. 32 spot. Since Gary was knocked out of the second qualifying round, his fate is out of his hands. A lot of those players in the German Masters have already qualified but will want to win more matches to ideally face easier opposition in Cheltenham.
Section 1
Mark Williams vs. Zhou Yuelong
Sam Baird vs. Joe Perry
Peter Ebdon vs. Shaun Murphy
Rory McLeod vs. Kyren Wilson
Section 1 Winner: Joe Perry vs. Shaun Murphy
Section 2
Barry Hawkins vs. Robert Milkins
Stephen Maguire vs. Michael Georgiou
Yan Bingtao vs. Matthew Stevens
Li Hang vs. Judd Trump
Section 2 Winner: Stephen Maguire vs. Yan Bingtao
Section 3
John Higgins vs. Yuan Sijun
Jack Lisowski vs. Duane Jones
Xiao Guodong vs. Ryan Day
Fergal O’Brien vs. Ding Junhui
Section 3 Winner: John Higgins vs. Ding Junhui
Section 4
Neil Robertson vs. Kurt Maflin
Stuart Bingham vs. Jimmy Robertson
David Gilbert vs. Ben Woollaston
Ricky Walden vs. Mark Selby
Section 4 Winner: Neil Robertson vs. David Gilbert
Winner: Shaun Murphy vs. Neil Robertson
The 2019 D88.com German Masters will take place from 30th January to 3rd February 2019 in Berlin, Germany.
