Visiting the German Masters 2015

I thought I would put down a short overview of my trip to the German Masters last week.

Originally my holiday with friends to Berlin was to coincide with Hertha Berlin's home fixture versus Bayern Munich in early December, this proved too short notice to muster up funds so the next best match was chosen - Hertha v Bayer Leverkusen.

Tempodrom Berlin

At the time I was unaware that my timing was perfectly in line for the German Masters, an event I had always wanted to attend. In fact the timing was so perfect that I shared a flight out with a few of the Scottish Snooker contingent (picture below).

Stephen Maguire, Me, A friend of their party?, Anthony McGill and John Higgins

So after a few days of heavy drinking I needed a quieter night and the Friday Evening session looked tantalising with 6 of the top 8 remaining in the draw. Purchasing tickets was easy, all the tourist information shops dotted about the city sold them. I got a couple at the Brandenburg gate tourist information just before my excellent walking tour by Stephen at - Free Walking Tour - I highly recommend this if you are ever in Berlin.

The venue is in a central location and like the rest of the city is served by a superb overground/underground rail network. I would recommend buying the 5 day pass for the rail system, it worked out at 40 Euro's but given how much time we spent on the network it was worth it. Ticket conductors are rarely seen but if you do get caught it's a 50 Euro fine.

The tent is an impressive venue from the outside and on this extremely cold evening shelter was greatly received. Inside it was like most modern venues. Bars and cloak rooms lined the space under the stands and there were a few doors at either end for shuffling into the arena. Once inside you are taken aback by the sheer size of this arena. I never got to visit the old Wembley Conference centre but this must be the closest venue on the tour in terms of scale. Finding your seat wasn't so easy I found, the numbering system mixed with my lack of German made it more difficult so we just took any empty seats at the back.

I've read a lot on twitter the last few days about how this is the 2nd best venue behind the Crucible. I would tend to disagree, I think it's the most impressive venue but the view from the back is limited, you just feel too far away. The last row in the temporary seating venues, such as the Barbican will provide a much better viewing experience, it just won't look as good on TV.

There is a sizable lobby where people can amble about and stretch their legs and the Eurosport team where situated in the corner of it. Due to being in Berlin for all but the final day I didn't get enough of an opportunity to judge the new TV panel. However I know from his ITV stint that Neil Foulds is an excellent studio analyst. I don't agree with having Ronnie O'Sullivan commenting though, he's still at the top of his game and I feel it's a conflict of interests. There was a similar situation over the winter when an injured Australian Cricket Captain Michael Clarke was invited to join Channel 9's test coverage and comment on his own players. It all felt a bit uncomfortable, as you knew the usually quite outspoken leader couldn't properly express his opinions of his colleagues.

Eurosport Team

I've not really went into what happened on the night as it's almost a week ago and plenty has been written but I thought I would put down my thoughts on the event from my visit. As I've done for the Crucible in the following two links:

Visiting the Crucible 2013
Visiting the Crucible 2014

I've got a few pics of the moment after Judd Trump his this wonderful 147:

Judd celebrates his 2nd 147

Players are quick to get back to work.

Although I prefer the World Championships at Sheffield this event could easily rival for cost as a visitor, I booked my flights from Edinburgh Airport for £57 return and the tickets were about £20. I would recommend it to all snooker fans as I look to plan my trip to the Welsh Open next.

Snooker Rankings in 2019 - My Predictions

I read Matt at Pro Snooker Blog’s piece on who he thought would be at the top of the game in five years time and it got me thinking. So I have come up with my own list & in five years I will hopefully revisit it.

1.    Ding Junhui

In Five years I can see Ding being a multiple World Champion and sitting third in the all time century list. His expert cue ball control and added years of experience will make him a formidable opponent. Once he gets over the Crucible hump he could well dominate the game and be pushing himself into the Snooker Mount Rushmore (An American sports thing, basically the top 4 of all time).

World Titles = 2
UK Title’s = 1
Masters = 1
Ranking Titles = 8

  2.  Judd Trump

Judd is in an interesting situation, unlike previous snooker era’s where players have come through in groups Judd is currently the only player in his age group that is established at the time of writing this. As he matures I can see his game becoming more complete & him winning more major titles. I don’t think he will be the most consistent player, however with the new money list it would only take a few big wins a season to maintain a high ranking – something I think he will achieve. Along with Ding I can see Judd joining the elite list of players to have completed the triple crown. 

World Titles = 1
UK Title’s = 1
Masters = 2
Ranking Titles = 6

3.     Mark Selby

The recent World Champion is the best safety player in the game and has consistently shown the ability to win whilst not playing his best. This is the one of the most important strings to his bow; whilst his peers could have a bad day and be defeated, he usually comes through. With the new flat 128 draw at the majority of tournaments, there will be more off days for players. I think he will add another World and UK in the next five years.

World Titles = 1

UK Title’s = 1

Masters = 0

Ranking Titles = 4

4. Mark Allen

It still amazes me that Mark hasn’t had more success by this point of his career. I expect he will become more consistent in the future and win more tournaments. On his game he is almost unstoppable; however we’ve infrequently seen this outside of the Haikou World Open. He will be 33 in five years and I expect him to have reached a World Final in that time while capturing one or two of the other big three titles.  

World Titles = 0

UK Title’s = 1

Masters = 1

Ranking Titles = 4

5. Neil Robertson

Usually as players get older one of the first things to go is their long potting. This leaves proficient long potters in a situation, without change you can gift your opponent frame winning opportunities – something Stephen Hendry was doing a lot in the last few years of his career. Now I expect Neil to continue to develop his Safety game which could counteract a potential drop in his long potting proficiency.  Even at the age of 37, I expect him to be at the top of the game, he is just too good a player to drop out of the top Eight & I anticipate he will be winning more of the triple crown events over the next few years.  

World Titles = 1

UK Title’s = 1

Masters = 1

Ranking Titles =6

6. Xiao Guodong

At this time he is the only young player who has impressed me consistently. At this time he is sitting 23^rd in the rankings & I predict by the end of the 2014/15 season he will be in the top 12. I don’t have him winning any of the major titles in my predictions, however in five years time while some of the others on this list will be right at the end of their proficient title winning career, Xiao will be coming into his peak and could then be landing some of the major trophies. 

World Titles = 0

UK Title’s = 0

Masters = 0

Ranking Titles =3

7. Michael White

I’ve always been impressed with Michael White; he is a fearless player who backs his own ability at the most important phases of a match. So far his progress up the rankings has been disappointed and he looks to have stalled. However when he has reached the flagship event, the World Championship’s he has shown real quality. Once he take’s that quality to every event he enters he will shoot up the rankings and will win a few titles. 

World Titles = 0

UK Title’s = 0

Masters = 0

Ranking Titles = 2

8. Anthony McGill

Scotland’s next big hope is Anthony McGill; he is an exciting young talent who shows maturity beyond his years and an understanding of the game. You can see little bits of Graeme Dott, John Higgins and Alan McManus games imprinted on McGill. At this point of his career I feel he lacks a little confidence in his ability, however when he breaks through I can see him being one of the toughest players on tour to defeat, therefore his high ranking. 

World Titles = 0

UK Title’s = 0

Masters = 0

Ranking Titles = 2

A few others to look out for in the next five years: Jack Lisowski, Kyren Wilson, Liang Wembo, Shane Castle, Ben Woollaston, Kurt Maflin & injury dependent a resurgent Jamie Cope.

Visiting the Crucible 2014

2014 and my third trip to the home of snooker & it didn't disappoint.

After the long train journey from Edinburgh and a quick hotel check in it was time for Sheffield’s best takeaway. An excellent large Brisket Burrito from “Street Food Chef” hit the spot & it’s the perfect pre-snooker session lunch.

The view from our seats

We were in the 2nd row this year and watched as Shaun Murphy constructed a 2-0 lead only to fall apart like an Ikea sofa against Ronnie O’Sullivan. Knowing he should have been 4-0 up at the mid session interval (it was 2-2) he got more and more desperate and handed O’Sullivan the remaining four frames to trail 6-2. It was a strange session, entertaining but not the highest quality. Murphy was excellent to see up close, his technique was by far one of the best I've seen up close & obviously the Rocket is in the same category.

We saw the final two frames of Neil Robertson v Judd Trump on the other side and it was clear Robertson was struggling at this point, Trump finished with a good century to a surprising 6-2 lead.
Strolling back through Tudor Square there was a chance meeting with Mark Selby outside the winter gardens. Wearing his full snooker gear he was far from discreet, even the drunk with his bag of lager took notice.

I took the opportunity to ask the rather stressed looking Mark for an autograph, which he kindly obliged, while my dad failed to take a picture of me and Mark, ending up with a fuzzy picture of a bench – one to treasure. You can see the autograph below, it looks like “Marky” to me but I’m not complaining. As I made my way in the opposite direction Mark was mobbed like a member of One Direction outside the Crucible, unlike Harry Styles though he was mobbed by middle aged men & the recently retired community.

In the evening after a disappointing Barbecue meal at the Smoke Point we settled outside for a few beers. A few tables along from us was a couple of Cockneys who had obviously started a few hours earlier, at one point the conversation flowed loudly along these lines

“I love you man, I hate you, you know what I want to kill you!”

We moved inside as it got dark but those hardy cockneys stayed outside for a good few hours yet, whether they were able to construct any coherent sentences we will never know. Inside, to my delight I found out the bar sold Viru, the best of all Estonian beers I might add. This full flavoured and light beer was the perfect tonic after a long day of Snooker and travel.

We talked about how good the Crucible is and other such Sheffield/Snooker based topics. While at the next table Steve Davis sat having his dinner and conducting a rather long winded interview. As the Viru’s flowed the table on the other side of us was filled, it was only snooker legend Matthew Selt, oh and Stephen Hendry was there as well. I then saw the bar staff wheeling away an empty box of Viru, had I really drunk that many?

Surely they had another box?

Davis joined the Hendry, Selt party and we had a table of 13 World Titles, and Matt Selt.
I couldn't bring myself to interrupt Davis, Hendry & Selt. My old man wasn't so bothered and came back with Hendry & Davis’s autograph. An avalanche of fans then descended on them from the tables around us, while Matt Selt had to sit sipping his cocktail sadly not being recognised. The bad news however was that the bar was out of Viru & the recommended replacement was a poor imitation on Talin's tastiest.

The great Steve Davis

The great Stephen Hendry

A much more relaxed Mark Selby walked in after winning 8 of his 9 frames in the evening session to lead Alan McManus 12-4 overnight. A few celebratory drinks were had as a sure-fire place in the semi final was going to be his. At least he hadn't won that evening, as we had tickets to his side of the table in the morning.

In the morning we saw the final two frames in the McManus v Selby match. Alan constructed a lovely break to win the first but Selby clinched an easy victory in the 2nd. For the remainder of the morning we watched as Ronnie crushed Shaun Murphy. Obviously still mentally scarred from the start he threw away in this match.

A burrito for the train home and our quick trip was complete. Till the 2015 championship!

Champion of Champions Day 2

Judd Trump v Marco Fu

Judd Trump completed a routine victory over Marco Fu in the afternoon's first match. In a surprisingly underwhelming match Judd completed a 4-1 victory against a under par Marco Fu. Marco who is having the best season of his career was heavily fancied to cause Trump a lot of trouble, however it never materialised as he struggled to settle.

Ricky Walden v Stuart Bingham

Sadly for all of us watching this was another one sided match. Stuart Bingham was clinical in finishing the many chances an out of sorts Ricky Walden presented and won 4-0. 

Judd Trump v Stuart Bingham

 

In the evening session Judd Trump signalled his intent to return to his all out attacking game with some audacious long shots. However unlike in the 2011 World Championships, he was missing. Stuart Bingham completed a 6-2 victory and looks to be cueing nicely; however I would struggle to see how he can beat Selby on Saturday. He is finishing off chances very nicely but he isn’t creating these chances through pressure & I suspect he won’t be given the same “gifts” against Selby.

For Judd, he has unlimited snooker ability and he is improving areas of his game month by month, however I feel the balance of his game isn’t quite right. Similarly to Shaun Murphy he is being held back by how he broke onto the scene with an amazingly attacking style. However if you start to lose a few matches, you doubt yourself and can start to change your natural game. I think it’s all about finding a nice balance between attack and defence & roughly speaking he should be around 65% attack to defence. If he was to ever find the right balance he could potentially dominate.

 

Quarter Final Round up

Barry Hawkins became the first player to reach this year’s Semi Finals with an impressive victory against an under par Ding Junhui. The story of the match was set in the first session, Ding cued badly and looked under increasing pressure and irritation at his poor form, and little changed as the match progressed. With the weight of a nation on him, a rather large and demanding nation at that, he crumbled and looked beaten as he came out for the final session trailing 9-7.

Hawkins was clinical and ruthless and took the opening four frames to progress. Although a ranking tournament winner, reaching the semi finals will easily be the best achievement of Barry’s career and his cool and calm finish to the match impressed me.

Barry Hawkins opponent will be Ricky Walden after he completed a 13-6 victory of Welsh prodigy Michael White. Walden was the more mature and composed during the match and was able to steal a few frames that killed off his opponent. Michael White has had a dream Crucible debut and it won’t be long till we see him in a Crucible Semi Final.

Ricky Walden and Barry Hawkins will both see this as a golden opportunity to reach a World Final and I expect a very close and edgy Semi Final.

Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump’s quarter final was heavily hyped and it didn’t let anyone down. We saw all 25 frames and the final frame was one of the all time classic final frame deciders. Filled with tension, emotion and superb play it was probably the quickest 50 minutes of the season. Trumps aggression in the final frame won it for him I felt. Murphy went a little too negative when he got chances, trying to not lose the frame while Trump grabbed it with both hands.

Probably the match the fans wanted awaits us now in the Semi Final when Judd Trump meets Ronnie O’Sullivan. Stuart Bingham was unable to perform to his ability in his Quarter Final with O’Sullivan and was defeated 13-4. While much has been made of how well O’Sullivan played, he was gifted a number of guilt edge chances and wasn’t made to work for many of his frames. What we did learn is that O’Sullivan is cueing beautifully and if you give him a chance in the balls he will won’t hesitate to punish his opponent.

I have just returned from a couple of days in Sheffield and will be posting up a piece about visiting the World Championships.