German Masters: Stat Attack and Tournament Top Ten

February 1 sees the start of the German Masters and a month of non-stop snooker. With the Grand Prix following events in Berlin straight away, and then the Welsh Open coming straight after that it is going to be a busy time for compiling statistics. In fact it will be almost impossible to bring out a full stats preview with updated German Masters stats for the World Grand Prix, and the same applying for the Welsh Open, so I will be working hard to ensure things are as updated as they can be prior to a reasonable publication time.

Coming back to this week and we have the seventh edition of the German Masters from the Tempodrome in Berlin. In the previous six stagings we have had six different winners, and five of those have entered and qualified for this week. In my overall Stat Attack I will have the key indicators for player performance with each of those statistics being updated to the end of the Masters. This means that the China Open qualifiers are yet to be added, while the Championship League action from January has not been included at all.

On top of that, in the second half of the post we will have a shortened tournament top ten blog, but before all of that there are the Tournament specific statistics from the previous stagings as well as a few relevant head to heads.

TOURNAMENT SPECIFIC NUMBERS: 

- Mark Selby has won the most matches out of anyone in the German Masters. Selby won the title two years ago and made the first ever final back in 2011. Just behind him is 2012 runner-up and someone with a particularly good record in this event in Stephen Maguire.

- Maguire has also won 100% of his deciders in the German Masters with five wins from five matches that have gone the distance. Ryan Day meanwhile has played in the most deciders out of anyone in the field this week, having played seven, and only winning three of them.

- Out of the eight players to make the quarter-finals of the German Masters in 2016 only three of them have qualified for the Last 32 at the venue this year. Those three are Ryan Day, Stephen Maguire and defending champion Martin Gould.

- Of the eight quarter-finals from the 2016 and 2015 editions of the German Masters seven of them have gone to deciding frames, with the odd one out seeing Graeme Dott beat Stephen Maguire 5-1 last season.

- The highest break in last season's championship was a mere 125 made by Judd Trump, the year before that Trump had the highest break again making a 147 but the left hander failed to qualify this year. The high break was won by the same player in both 2014 and 2013 also as Michael Holt took the prize.

- Ricky Walden has qualified this year for the final stages at the venue for the first time in 2013. 

HEAD TO HEADS: 

- Jamie Jones plays Martin Gould in round one having lost seven of his last eight games against Gould, though he did win their last meeting in the first round of the European Masters this season.

- Mark Allen has won his last five ranking meetings with Ryan Day coming into their first round clash, and Day will need to expel the demons of their last match where he lost from 4-0 up against Allen in the UK Championships in November.

- Tom Ford and Peter Ebdon have never played in a ranking knock out match, with their only two meetings being in the Championship League in 2012 and the group stages of the 2006 Grand Prix.

- Ronnie O'Sullivan has not played Mark King since the 2010 World Open, when O'Sullivan made the reluctant 147 break. Although, to show the longevity of the pair they played in the German Open which was in 1995 with King winning there 5-3.

- When Stephen Maguire meets Ali Carter in round one he will be hoping not to fall foul of another Carter comeback after Maguire lost from 5-2 ahead 6-5.

- In five previous meetings David Gilbert and Marco Fu have gone to a decider in three of those, including their last meeting when Gilbert came from 3-0 down to beat Fu 5-4 in the Last 32 of this season's Shanghai Masters.

- Barry Hawkins meanwhile will go into his first round match with Michael White having won four of his last five meetings against White.

- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh beat Mark Selby in their last meeting which was at the 2016 World Open, where the Thai went on to reach the semi-finals. 

PLAYER PERFORMANCE: KEY INDICATORS:  

Average Frame aggregate: 
This week's Top 10:

Mark Selby = 20.32
Barry Hawkins = 19.49
Ronnie O'Sullivan = 18.09
Stephen Maguire = 16.76
Neil Robertson = 16.69
Marco Fu = 15.62
David Gilbert = 13.97
Stuart Bingham = 11.31
Ricky Walden = 11.08
Ryan Day = 10.85

When it comes to average frame aggregates (average points scored per frame - average points conceded per frame) it is interesting to see some of the names in the top 10. Stephen Maguire is as high as four on the list out of the 32 players in the field this week. This does come as a slight surprise considering his slip down the rankings. Mark Selby is at the top of the list after his magnificent season so far. Meanwhile, Hawkins run to the semi's of the Masters helped him up to second on the list. Neil Robertson is only a small way behind Maguire and is certainly due a good run in a tournament that would get him back up to the high numbers of his early season. Marco Fu's recent return to form has seen him continue to post strong numbers on this list particularly given his heavy scoring. David Gilbert's best form also came in the early season which is why he still posts good numbers on this list, while early exits in the last two or three tournaments for Stuart Bingham have seen his stats take a tumble. As for Ryan Day and Ricky Walden it is a surprise to see them in the top ten for frame aggregates given their inconsistencies in the 2016/2017 campaign.

This week's Bottom 10:

Zhang Yong: -11.37
John Astley: - 6.97
Peter Ebdon: -1.17
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh: -0.02
Akani Songsermsawad: 0.28
Robin Hull: 1.11
Jimmy White: 1.42
Zhao Xintong: 4.3
Dominic Dale: 5.27
Jamie Jones: 6.09

At the other end of the frame aggregates table we have Zhang Yong who is at or close to the bottom in each stats list that I will bring you in this blog. Some heavy defeats are the cause of him being nearly 5 points worse off than anyone else in the field. Then comes John Astley who's numbers seem worse than I would expect from a player who has had some good results this season on the whole. Astley is just over 5 points back of next worst Peter Ebdon. Ebdon has been inconsistent all season, but still had a couple of nice results to qualify for Berlin. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh has really not been able to repeat the form he showed in the early season often enough as the campaign has gone on, losing to a few lower ranked players and losing too many first round matches. His fellow Thai player Akani Songsermsawad is just the right side of 0 here after an impressive showing this season and two more good results qualifying him for this week. First round opponents Robin Hull and Jimmy White have very little between them in the frame aggregate stats, which could signal a tight match there. Beyond that point the overall table gets quite tight, so it is tough to criticise young Zhao Xintong, or the Welsh duo of Jones and Dale for falling in the bottom ten. Each of the three have had very good results in tournaments this season and could get a couple of wins this week.

Average Frames per 50+ 

This week's Top 10:

Ronnie O'Sullivan = 2.15
Neil Robertson = 2.24
Marco Fu = 2.24
Mark Selby = 2.42
Barry Hawkins = 2.62
Mark Allen = 2.74
Tom Ford = 2.75
Stephen Maguire = 2.75
Stuart Bingham = 2.8
David Gilbert = 2.85

The first of the two scoring stats I have is the average frames per 50+ break statistic. It is no surprise to see the ultimate heavy scoring machine and recent Masters champion Ronnie O'Sullivan at the top of the list, basically averaging a 50+ in every other frame he plays. Neil Robertson is not fair behind as has been the case for the last two months or so, after Robertson led the way in the early season. The ton machine of the last two or three tournaments in Marco Fu continues to shoot up the table and is now level with Robertson in this list. Form player Mark Selby has been scoring well as this stat displays, while Barry Hawkins is just a little further back and looking at his results I believe he is very close to a tournament win if he can recover mentally from his Masters disappointment. The table gets quite close from here with Mark Allen, Tom Ford, Stephen Maguire, Stuart Bingham and David Gilbert's numbers all pretty close together. Ford's good form this season, including reaching the Paul Hunter Classic final, has shot him up on this list and it is no shock to see. Maguire has always been a frequent scorer like Bingham, Gilbert and Allen. Neither of them have necessarily had that one superb week to propel them higher up this list and the overall rankings.

This week's Bottom 10:

Peter Ebdon = 6.24
Zhang Yong = 5.6
John Astley = 5.52
Mark King = 4.8
Akani Songsermsawad = 4.56
Jimmy White = 4.28
Dominic Dale = 4.09
Thepchiaya Un-Nooh = 3.53
Jamie Jones = 3.52
Ali Carter = 3.41

Right at the bottom of the list for scoring frequency is Peter Ebdon. Most of his inconsistencies have come in this area, as his toughness and ability to grind out matches is still as good as most. Zhang Yong and John Astley find themselves close to the bottom again, while Mark King's scoring frequency is surprisingly low considering that he is a tournament winner this season. Otherwise it is many of the same names propping up the table that were in the frame aggregates which perhaps shows a close link between the two. Just to show how tight the table is Ali Carter who only just slipped into the bottom ten is only 0.56 away from David Gilbert in tenth place. This is a stat that has also been a little worse at times this season for Carter, but it is not worth reading too much into guys like him, Jones and Un-Nooh who have also just slipped into the bottom ten.

Average break when above 50: 

This week's Top 10:

Marco Fu = 83.31
Ronnie O'Sullivan = 81.08
David Gilbert = 81
Stuart Bingham = 80.91
Michael White = 80.86
Mark Allen = 80.21
Stephen Maguire = 80.05
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh = 80
Mark Selby = 79.3
Stuart Carrington = 78.72

Having looked at scoring frequency it is now time to go through the numbers on scoring weight. Marco Fu naturally is topping this list having gone crazy with big breaks in the last couple of tournaments, and his numbers have been good on this stat all season. Now though he is over two points clear at the top for average break when above 50. Ronnie O'Sullivan is the man in second place in a list where you would expect him to be in the top three all season long. It is pretty close this week though between Ronnie and guys like David Gilbert, Stuart Bingham and Michael White. White has showed some very heavy scoring at times this season and has the potential to blow players away on his day, as he has done a couple of times in the home nations series. Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh are all at 80 and above as well and each of them have had maximum breaks this season which certainly helps them on this list. Making up the best ten are Mark Selby and Stuart Carrington, which for me demonstrates how good Carrington can be on his day, being no stranger to power scoring. Carrington is one player who I actually believe could break through in the next year.

This week's Bottom 10:

Zhang Yong = 63.1
Jamie Jones = 68.26
Dominic Dale = 69.48
Peter Ebdon = 70.1
Jimmy White = 70.17
Martin Gould = 70.52
Barry Hawkins = 72.29
Ben Woollaston = 73.43
Mark Williams = 73.98
Tom Ford = 74.59

Once again at the bottom end are the likes of Zhang Yong and Peter Ebdon, as well as Jamie Jones and Dominic Dale. As I said earlier much of Ebdon's issues coming in the scoring these days, though 70 is still not bad as an average and if you were looking at the overall tour of 128 there are many players below that number. Again showing how tight it is this week Tom Ford, who only just fell into the bottom ten, is only just over 4 points from the top ten. Defending champion Martin Gould averaging just over 70 is a surprise and shows perhaps why he has not had as many good results as he did last season. For him I would expect to see him pushing the 80 average because on his day he can string plenty of centuries together. Barry Hawkins is also still a little low considering he has had some good performances this year in the Masters and Northern Irish Open. He like Gould should have been pushing the top end of the list.

Close Frames Win Percentage: 

This week's Top 10:

John Astley = 73.08
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh = 70.59
Marco Fu = 68.57
Mark Selby = 68.52
Dominic Dale = 67.74
Ricky Walden = 65.63
Stephen Maguire = 65.52
Peter Ebdon = 63.16
Michael Holt = 60.87
Neil Robertson = 58.82

Now we are done with scoring stats it is time to look at the close frame win percentages. Turning the tables on the scoring stats we have seen prior to this, guys like Astley, Ebdon, Dale and Un-Nooh who we have seen at times in the bottom ten are all in the top ten here. 73% is a very impressive percentage, coming close to winning 3 out of 4 tight frames. Anything above 60 is a good mark though and that is the standard for the top ten. Marco Fu appears once more at the top end of a list and given his scoring dominance, getting to the top of the close frames shows that his all round game is in good shape. Ricky Walden is no stranger to having to scrap some frames out, and particularly with his scoring stats down, he has needed to be good in this area. Smart and experienced players like Selby, Neil Robertson, Ebdon and Dale you would expect to see in the top ten in a 32 man field and so that has proved. Even more aggressive players like Maguire are showing experience and class in the tight frames which is why a first ranking title in four years could be a possibility very soon. Working with Terry Griffiths will always help you in the tactical side of the game and that might show in the numbers of Michael Holt here as he creeps over the 60% mark.

This week's Bottom 10:

Ben Woollaston = 35.71
Michael White = 41.67
Zhang Yong = 44.44
Mark Allen = 47.06
Jimmy White = 47.83
Barry Hawkins = 48.15
Ali Carter = 48.98
Martin Gould = 50
Stuart Carrington = 50
Akani Songsermsawad = 50

At the bottom end of the list are poor numbers for Ben Woolaston. While anything 60 or over is decent in my view, so too is anything less than 40 a pretty poor effort. Perhaps an aggressive style is the reason for quite a poor showing for Michael White. Again Mark Allen could be in that same boat with regards to aggressive play hindering him a little in close frames. Meanwhile, Barry Hawkins slipped here a touch during the Masters losing a few tighter frames, even in the matches he won but it eventually cost him against Joe Perry in the semi finals. For the likes of Gould, Songsermsawad and Carrington who are on 50%, that is in no way a bad percentage and is probably unfortunate that they have slipped into the bottom then, but that does perhaps show the standard they are up against this week.

Quarter-Finals or Better since start of 2014/2015 season: 

This week's Top 7:

Mark Selby = 12

Stuart Bingham = 12
Mark Williams = 10
Neil Robertson = 10
Ronnie O'Sullivan = 9
Marco Fu = 9
Stephen Maguire = 9

Out of the players in the field this week, Mark Selby and Stuart Bingham have been the best in the last couple of seasons for reaching the latter stages as you would expect from world numbers 1 and 2. The next two on the list are Neil Robertson and Mark Williams, which is not bad considering that Williams has said he is no longer at his best and capable of reaching the latter stages, but this clearly proves otherwise. It is also interesting to see that Stephen Maguire has had as many quarter-finals as guys like Marco Fu and Ronnie O'Sullivan and more than people like Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins. However, Maguire has slipped down the rankings and is provisionally set to fall to world number 27 after this tournament unless he has a good week. 

TOURNAMENT TOP TEN: 

In this week's Top Ten I have put the three home nations events from this season so far into the generator, because of their similar format. Along with this I have put the European Masters and Paul Hunter Classic in from this season, as they have a similar approach to this event and are both in continental Europe. Finally, I have looked at the previous stagings of the German Masters picking the five from 2012 to 2016. This is all alongside the Player Performance Indicator stats that you have seen above which also have a small impact into the make up of the list.

10 - Ali Carter - Just coming on to the table this week in tenth place is 2013 German Masters winner Ali Carter. But for that 2013 he has not gotten past the Last 32 in the other editions from 2012-2016, which is the reason a former winner such as Carter could be so low on the list. In the five events I put in from this season that I saw as most relevant, Carter's best showing once again was the Last 32. As for the statistics, Carter failed to reach the top five on any of the lists that I mention above. Without earning points from that and more recent tournaments, Carter has ended up being slightly lucky to make the top ten at all.

9 - Stuart Bingham - Stuart Bingham has just crept above Ali Carter this week in ninth position. He has reached the Last 16 of the German Masters in three of the last five years but never gotten any further. Some of his more recent form has not been the best though, though he did manage a semi-final in the home nations series, though you have to go back to the English Open in October for that. As for Bingham's numbers, he comes top of the quarter-finals or better stat and fourth for the average break when above 50. Without a better overall showing in recent events and in German Masters history it was always going to be difficult to join the challengers at the very top.

8 - Mark King - Mark King of course makes it on to the list, as one of the home nations champions, with his triumph coming in Belfast at the Northern Irish Open. However, this recent ranking victory was not the lone hand in getting him up to eight on the list as he also has a decent record in the German Masters for someone outside of the top 16. In the last four years he has reached the Last 16 on three occasions and has a good record in Germany generally. Though this event did not count, it is worth mentioning that he did reach the semi-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany in 2015. Statistically, King fails to reach the top five in any of the categories used to build this list. 

7 - Stephen Maguire - When building this list I saw that Stephen Maguire has quite a useful record in previous stagings of the German Masters and it surprises me a little that he is as low as seven on the list. A year ago he reached the quarter-finals in Berlin, and was a semi-finalist in 2015. His best effort was way back in 2012 when he was on the wrong side of a close final with Ronnie O'Sullivan. In the events from this season that have built up this list, Maguire has disappointed somewhat, failing to get past the Last 32 in any of them. Statistically he picks himself up though, coming fourth for average aggregate in the field this week and joint fifth for quarter-finals or better, since the start of the 2014/2015 season. All in all there is enough evidence to show that Maguire could have a run in Berlin this week. 

6 - Martin Gould - Just falling short of the top half in this weeks top ten is the defending champion Martin Gould. Much like Carter, there is very little else to have pushed him along else he could be in the top three. However, he is higher on the list than Carter as a more recent winner. In Gould's defence also is a small Last 16 showing from the year before, but this season has not seen the returns for the Pinner Potter. In the five events from this season that were included in the building of this list, he did not play in two of them. As for the other three, he lost in the first round of two and only managed a Last 32 place in the other. Finally, there was nothing else to add for Gould on the stats front as he was nowhere near the top five on any of the lists. 

5 - Neil Robertson - Sneaking into the top half this week is Neil Robertson. The thunder from down under may have failed to qualify for the Tempodrom a year ago but did reach the semi-finals in 2013. In 2015 he made the quarter-finals and narrowly missed out on another semi-final place. As for this season, he was a semi-finalist at the European Masters, and it may have been slightly clinical of me not to count the other European event, the Riga Masters in Latvia, where Robertson walked away with the trophy and a decent winners cheque. The stats also help to pick the Australian up. In the average frames per 50+ list he is joint second, and finished joint third on the quarter-finals or better list. As well as that he crept into the top five on the average aggregate list and in the end just fell short of a higher finish in this weeks top ten. 

4 - Barry Hawkins - The man that denied Robertson getting any higher was Barry Hawkins. The German Masters record of Hawkins could be better, in the last five years in Berlin he has left after the Last 32 stages, though he did make the Last 16 a year ago and a much more impressive semi-final in 2013. It is on the home nations where Hawkins has showed most of his form this season, making the semi-finals of the English Open and losing out in a tight final of the Northern Irish Open. Statistically, Hawkins is fairly good across the board. On the average aggregate list he finishes second from this weeks field which is a very good showing, as is a fifth place finish on the average frames per 50+ list. 

3 - Marco Fu -  Marco Fu has been one of the form men of the last month and his recent efforts have done enough for him to grab a podium spot on this weeks list. His German Masters record is poor aside from 2013 when he reached the final. In the other four years from 2012-2016 he did not pass the Last 32 and failed to qualify on two occasions. The obvious reason that he is up in third on the list is because of his win at the Scottish Open in December, and that win when put together with his Masters and UK semi-finals led to some big gains in the stats lists. He is top of the shop for average break when above 50, and second for frames per 50+ break showing that his scoring has been as good as it could be. It is not just here where he has excelled, coming in fifth place for this weeks field in the ever changing close frames win percentage list. Finally, a joint fifth place in the quarter-finals or better list is not bad for someone who did not pass the Last 32 in a ranking event this season until the UK Championships. 

2 - Ronnie O'Sullivan - Once again in the top two of a tournament top ten is Ronnie O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan is another one of the Berlin champions, winning his title here way back in 2012. However, he did not qualify in 2014 and 2016, not entering in 2013 though in 2015 he lost out in a narrow quarter-final with Shaun Murphy. His recent Masters triumph does not count to the list directly, though it did have an influence on the stats list. However, the run O'Sullivan made to the European Masters final gives him a further boost. As I have already mentioned, the numbers are good for the five time World Champion. He is top of the class for average frames per 50+ break, and comes in second just behind Fu for average break when above 50. Add to that a third place standing on the average frame aggregate list and joint fifth for quarter-finals or better (given the amount of events he did not enter before this season) and O'Sullivan is in strong form coming to the Tempodrom.  

1 - Mark Selby - Once again, this weeks table topper is the World Champion and world number one Mark Selby. The factors that have contributed to that this week are a couple of titles in Germany. The first was at this event in 2015, while the other was in this seasons Paul Hunter Classic. In 2012 and 2013 Selby was a quarter-finalist in Berlin but could not push on any further, which is a similar story to the European Masters in October when he fell in the semi-finals, which was still another good showing. In the home nations series, Selby has actually skipped two of the events so there is nothing to add from those but statistically he, like O'Sullivan and Fu, has been a powerhouse coming into the week. He leads the average aggregate standings as well as joint leading the quarter-finals or better list with Stuart Bingham. In addition to that are fourth place standings on the close frames win percentage list, which is no surprise at all, and the frames per 50+ break list. Despite falling in the quarter-finals of the Masters, Selby is clearly in very strong form and could be the champion again this week. 

That's all from this week's Statistical preview ahead of the German Masters, but do not forget that my full preview of the tournament will be up tomorrow so look out for that, and enjoy the proceedings to come starting on Wednesday.