For the players there are 32 of them in action after two rounds of qualifiers before Christmas. These saw a lot of the top 16 eliminated with, Judd Trump, John Higgins, Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson and Joe Perry all failing to qualify. Meanwhile, Liang Wenbo pulled out of qualifying and fellow top Chinese player Ding Junhui did not enter in the first place.
Martin Gould is the defending champion after winning his first ranking title at this event when he beat Luca Brecel in the final 12 months ago. Brecel will not get another crack at the title this year though having also failed to qualify.
The other main point of interest coming into this week is the World Grand Prix. This event marks the cut off point for that, with the top 32 players on this seasons money list moving on to Preston next week for that event. So there is potential that we won't know the full draw until the day the event starts.
Of the 32 involved this week, 12 are outside of that top 32 bracket as it stands, but could all mathematically qualify. Yan Bingtao currently holds 32nd position and is sat on £39,100. If he were to lose in the first round it would open the door for Tom Ford, who is only £75 behind, to come in and steal the place. Ben Woollaston is £975 behind, yet would have to reach at least the quarter-finals with only an additional £750 coming from a Last 32 victory. For the same reason, Yan Bingtao would have to win two matches to move above Matthew Stevens who is 31 on the list but did not qualify this week.
For the rest of the players outside of that 32 here is what they must do to qualify:
Stuart Carrington - At least the semi-finals.
Martin Gould - At least the semi-finals.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - At least the semi-finals.
Robin Hull - At least the semi-finals if Yan Bingtao and Tom Ford lose in round one, and Woollaston fails to reach the quarter-finals. Otherwise Hull needs to reach the final.
John Astley - Must reach at least the final.
Akani Songsermsawad - Must reach at least the final.
Peter Ebdon - Must reach at least the final.
Zhao Xintong - Must reach at least the final.
Jimmy White - Must win the tournament.
Zhang Yong - Must win the tournament.
Now that we know what the players must do, let's have a look at what their chances are of completing the task in front of them:
Quarter 1
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Martin Gould Vs Jamie Jones
Ricky Walden Vs John Astley
Mark Allen Vs Ryan Day
Robin Hull Vs Jimmy White
Martin Gould is the defending champion this week in Berlin, but his form this season has not quite matched that of a year ago. Gould in fact is a long way off of the top 32 on the one year money list and as mentioned above he needs a big run to get into the Grand Prix, where he was a semi-finalist in 2015. Gould has not played in every event this year and has had a number of early exits on the whole and he could just as easily have another when he takes on a tough player like Jamie Jones. Jones has had some good showings this year, reaching the UK Championship quarter-finals and having a good run at the Paul Hunter Classic too. Jones is one player I am looking at who could be the next to make his breakthrough if everything could come together for him. Ricky Walden is someone who has probably disappointed in the last 18 months overall. Walden has now slipped outside of the world's top 16 and will be looking for a good run this week to hopefully boost his chances of automatic qualification for the Crucible. If Walden could find his consistency this week then there is no reason why he could not easily make the semi-finals at least. Meanwhile, there is a big first round match in the tour survival battle for Robin Hull and Jimmy White. Hull has slipped slightly on the provisional end of season list after losing his China Open qualifier, but still has his destiny in his own hands. White meanwhile has had a resurgence this year and could finish in the "top eight players not already qualified for the 2017/2018 season" on the one year money list which would earn him another two years on tour. While the match itself is only worth an extra £750, it could open the door for the winner to go on and have a run that keeps them on tour for the next year or two.
My first quarter choice then is Mark Allen. Allen has played pretty well this season without going forward and having that title winning week. At the Masters he played very well to beat John Higgins and avenge his Last 16 loss at the UK Championships. In three tournaments he has been thwarted by Ronnie O'Sullivan on three occasions this season, lost to Higgins in two, but in back to back events he did beat World Champion Mark Selby. This quarter is a pretty open one and for me he is by far the best player in it if he plays like he can. A tough first round clash with Ryan Day may be the hardest draw he has between himself and the semi-finals if he can come through it. Allen is definitely worth thinking about as a tournament winner this week given his draw in this quarter, and this could be one of the weeks where he puts it all together and walks away with the trophy.
Quarter Choice: Mark Allen
Quarter 2
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Tom Ford Vs Peter Ebdon
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Mark King
Ali Carter Vs Stephen Maguire
Akani Songsermsawad Vs Zhao Xintong
The first match that jumps out from quarter two is that of Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire. The pair are pretty evenly matched, and although Maguire is steadily slipping down the rankings, there is no reason why either player could not win this match and then go all the way. Coming back to Maguire, he was on fire in Shanghai in September but has not gotten close to those heights since. Arguably, Carter has not had as many deep runs as he would have liked since winning the World Open which makes this an even more open clash. In a similar sense the match up between two much less experienced opponents, Zhao Xintong and Akani Songermsawad is a very tight one. Both have had very good results this season, with Zhao beating John Higgins to qualify for the venue here. As one of my players to watch for this season Zhao has not let me down, and although Akani has had his fair share of good results I would given the Chinese player a slight edge. One player who I think could well be a dark horse this week if he is on form is Tom Ford. Ford has had a good season, making the final in Germany for the Paul Hunter Classic at the start of the season. Following that he then had a couple of Last 16 defeats to John Higgins in the European Masters and English Open and is perhaps nearing a point where he could start fulfilling his potential.
Given the draw this week I am finding it hard to see past Ronnie O'Sullivan as my second quarter choice. Much like Allen in quarter one he is by far the best player in this quarter and if he fancies it in Berlin I would fancy him to make it back to back tournament wins. Prior to winning the Masters, O'Sullivan had already reached three finals this season, at the UK Championships, the European Masters and Champion of Champions. It has taken players generally playing at the very top of their game to beat him and the fact that he has played more events this season must have helped him find rhythm and match form to continue performing at his best. O'Sullivan has not played in many German Masters events but that has not stopped him winning in Berlin as he did in 2012. Having become mentally stronger as well, it takes a really good performance or a really bad week for him to be beaten in the early stages now.
Given the draw this week I am finding it hard to see past Ronnie O'Sullivan as my second quarter choice. Much like Allen in quarter one he is by far the best player in this quarter and if he fancies it in Berlin I would fancy him to make it back to back tournament wins. Prior to winning the Masters, O'Sullivan had already reached three finals this season, at the UK Championships, the European Masters and Champion of Champions. It has taken players generally playing at the very top of their game to beat him and the fact that he has played more events this season must have helped him find rhythm and match form to continue performing at his best. O'Sullivan has not played in many German Masters events but that has not stopped him winning in Berlin as he did in 2012. Having become mentally stronger as well, it takes a really good performance or a really bad week for him to be beaten in the early stages now.
Quarter Choice: Ronnie O'Sullivan
Quarter 3
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Stuart Bingham Vs Zhang Yong
Marco Fu Vs David Gilbert
Michael Holt Vs Stuart Carrington
Dominic Dale Vs Yan Bingtao
Stuart Bingham has recently become a Dad again and with that being just ahead of the Masters, you could not blame him for the 6-1 defeat that followed. Prior to that he had early exits in the Scottish Open and UK Championships and all told his record in Berlin as a whole is not the best. He should win easily in round one, but whether he can go much further beyond that remains to be seen. Marco Fu has been flying in the last couple of events, a winner at the Scottish Open it then took a rampant Ronnie O'Sullivan to defeat him in the Masters, and despite a slip up last week in the China Open qualifiers, he has to be one of the favourites for the title this week. However, he faces a tough first round match with David Gilbert who always seems to have close matches with Fu and has beaten him on a couple of occasions more recently. Then we come to the man on the bubble for World Grand Prix qualification, which of course is Yan Bingtao. Yan has a tough first round match with the experienced Dominic Dale who has still had some decent results this season. While the Chinese player has had an immense first half to his debut season, a first round exit at the Scottish Open was not the required outcome for his Grand Prix. Last week he took a thumping against Mark Davis in China Open qualifying, and while that does not effect his hopes of being in Preston next week, it may just hurt his confidence a touch, but only time will tell.
My third quarter choice for this week meanwhile is Michael Holt. This is my more outside of the box choice of the week, but in this section Holt certainly has a decent chance. He has been threatening to breakthrough and win a big event for a while now. He came close to the semi-finals in both the International and China Championships in October and November, whilst also reaching the final of the Riga Masters at the start of the season. He has beaten a number of top players in the last year or so and seems to have gotten over his issues with playing on TV and seems more settled on the whole. Under the tutelage of Terry Griffiths he has grown a lot as a player and I think he will break into the top 16 very soon. A good run this week would be a big boost to achieving that goal, and who knows he may put it all together and win that long awaited first ranking title.
My third quarter choice for this week meanwhile is Michael Holt. This is my more outside of the box choice of the week, but in this section Holt certainly has a decent chance. He has been threatening to breakthrough and win a big event for a while now. He came close to the semi-finals in both the International and China Championships in October and November, whilst also reaching the final of the Riga Masters at the start of the season. He has beaten a number of top players in the last year or so and seems to have gotten over his issues with playing on TV and seems more settled on the whole. Under the tutelage of Terry Griffiths he has grown a lot as a player and I think he will break into the top 16 very soon. A good run this week would be a big boost to achieving that goal, and who knows he may put it all together and win that long awaited first ranking title.
Quarter Choice: Michael Holt
Quarter 4
Last 32 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Neil Robertson Vs Ben Woollaston
Barry Hawkins Vs Michael White
Mark Williams Vs Anthony Hamilton
Mark Selby Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
The fourth and final quarter in this weeks German Masters draw is probably the toughest to call, and certainly the one that went closest to it's seeding in qualifying. Barry Hawkins and Michael White is the first match that I want to come to because it has the makings of being a cracker. Hawkins has been playing very well in the last couple of months, but suffered a setback when he squandered a 5-2 lead in the Masters semi-finals against Joe Perry. That may hurt him for a while, and you only have to look at some of his form from a couple of years ago, following the infamous Nigel Bond comeback. Early signs of that may have surfaced as he lost 5-2 to Aditya Mehta in China Open qualifying. Michael White meanwhile has had a couple of runs to quarter-finals this season, in Shanghai and Belfast, but is yet to kick on and will want to put that right this week. Mark Williams has also put on a few good performances lately and is still playing better than he likes to let on in the press and on social media. He was hugely unlucky at the Masters, and made the quarter-finals of the UK Championships and Northern Irish Open prior to Christmas and the 2011 German Masters champion can certainly not be underestimated. World number one Mark Selby is another former winner of the German Masters and in the form he has been in over the last year he has a great chance of picking up another title in Berlin. He was beaten by a brilliant Barry Hawkins in the Masters and it will take someone playing at the top of their game to put Selby to bed. Unless he has a real off day it is hard to pick out who in particular could beat him.
In arguably the hardest quarter of the draw, my choice is Neil Robertson. Robertson has not been in the best of form over the last month or so but the signs for me at the Masters were that he would soon be back to his best. A couple of early exits in the Autumn saw him turn up at the Scottish Open before Christmas having not won since the Last 32 of the International Championship which was three or four tournaments beforehand. The Australian had a similar run at the back end of last season, losing in the first round of the World Grand Prix, China Open and World Championship before starting this season with a win at the Riga Masters. As I say though he looked a little closer to returning to his best in London and has had a quite a long time off to get himself right for a busy period in the season coming up. For me he is certainly due a big run and this time in the season would certainly be a good one to find your form as a top player. He may win this week, but even if he does not I think he will win a big title between now and the World Championships.
In arguably the hardest quarter of the draw, my choice is Neil Robertson. Robertson has not been in the best of form over the last month or so but the signs for me at the Masters were that he would soon be back to his best. A couple of early exits in the Autumn saw him turn up at the Scottish Open before Christmas having not won since the Last 32 of the International Championship which was three or four tournaments beforehand. The Australian had a similar run at the back end of last season, losing in the first round of the World Grand Prix, China Open and World Championship before starting this season with a win at the Riga Masters. As I say though he looked a little closer to returning to his best in London and has had a quite a long time off to get himself right for a busy period in the season coming up. For me he is certainly due a big run and this time in the season would certainly be a good one to find your form as a top player. He may win this week, but even if he does not I think he will win a big title between now and the World Championships.
Quarter Choice: Neil Robertson
Winner Selection: Neil Robertson
Winner Selection: Neil Robertson
The event this week will be televised in it's entirety by Eurosport, however how many UK and even European viewers that will be able to watch this week has been thrown into question. Due to ongoing battles between Discovery, who own Eurosport amongst their other channels, with Sky TV, Eurosport and the other Discovery channels may be dropped from the Sky package. Bad news for Sky viewers, but this will not effect you if you view Eurosport by other means such as Virgin Media or BT TV.
It is also worth noting at this point that a special deal for Eurosport Player has been on their site for some time, to get Eurosport Player for just £19.99 for the year, saving £40 on the usual price. This deal is only available until the 31st January and if you are interested the page to visit is here:
That is all from my preview of the German Masters, and however you are viewing it hopefully it will be an enjoyable week of snooker for everyone. If you have not yet seen it, my Stats preview, featuring the Stat Attack and the Tournament Top Ten, is available to view now through here:
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/german-masters-stat-attack-and.html?m=1
http://cueactionsnookerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/german-masters-stat-attack-and.html?m=1
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