German Masters begins tomorrow

After the weekend’s fun and games we are back to the snooker nitty gritty. The German Masters returns for its sixth instalment as a full ranking event taking place in the enormous Tempodrom in Berlin.

This unique event only lasts five days, with players playing across a number of tables in a packed auditorium. 22 players have already qualified and the top seeds will play their R64 matches at the venue. 

The return of snooker to Germany has been one of the great success stories of the last few years. The event has had excellent attendances in the last two years and some cracking matches. Last year, while staring at an exit from the top 16, Ronnie O’Sullivan played some excellent snooker to capture the title by defeating Stephen Maguire. 

Ronnie will obviously not be here to defend his title but who are the other contenders?

John Higgins

A two time winner of this event in the mid 90’s when it was first held in Frankfurt and Bingen am Rhein. John missed this event 24 months ago after his father was taken ill, so with no points to defend it’s a chance to close the gap at the top of the rankings. I’ve been impressed with John’s play this season and, although early exits in the UK and International Championship will have disappointed him, I feel another big event victory is just around the corner. 

Mark Allen

In the last few weeks Mark has shown some signs of great cueing and an increased confidence. With a comfortable first two rounds I can see Mark playing himself into the tournament before a possible Quarter final versus Ding/Selby. I fancy this will be Mark’s second ranking tournament victory this week.

Neil Robertson

Neil is a threat in every tournament he enters now. He seems to be consistently strong at big events and I can see at least a trip to the semi’s this week for the Thunder from Down Under.

Stephen Maguire

Like Mark Allen I feel Maguire is on the cusp of another tournament victory. He is usually pretty strong in the lead up to the Crucible and with a good showing last year at this event he will be up for going one better.