German Masters has made its come back as an international ranking competition. The qualifying round for the tournament took place between 14th and 17th December, at the World snooker academy, Sheffield, United
Kingdom.
Formerly known as German Open the tournament’s incipient status was that of a ranking tournament back in 1995 until 1997. Later it was changed to an invitational/non-ranking event in 1998. German Masters has regained its ranking
status and it will detonate at the Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany.
With the qualifying rounds being completed the tournament’s final rounds will take place between 2nd and 6th of February 2011.
Many upcoming and emerging players are hoping to win the tournament; among them is the promising and talented Jack Lisowski. The 19-year-old Lisowski has booked his place in the concluding rounds of the tournament with splendid
wins, and by playing admirable snooker.
The teenager English cueist defeated James McBain with a score line of 5-2. Lisowski was handed a ‘bye’ against Mike Dunn, although he ran over Marcus Campbell. With breaks of 55, 61 and 69, Lisowski cruised his way to the 5-3
victory in a marvelous fashion. Along with fighting cancer Lisowski will be battling with the top players in this tournament.
The Robin Hood of snooker Anthony Hamilton has shown his intentions by defeating world-number-17 Stuart Bingham, in the qualifying rounds of the event with a score-line of 5-1. Anthony goes to the final stages of the event.
A teenager cueist from Thailand Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon has made it through to his first ranking event by claiming 5-2 victory against Barry Hawkins including a fine century.
China’s Liu Song displayed a great show against world-number-28 Ken Doherty, beating him four straight frames. Ken was 3-0 when Liu replied with marvelous breaks of 92 and 107 to knock Ken out of the qualifying round of the event,
with a 5-4 victory.
The only female cueist competing the qualifying rounds, Reanne Evans, lost her first match against Nigel Bond with a disappointing 5-0, therefore she goes out of the tournament at a very early stage.
Jimmy White was also knocked out of the tournament in the qualifying rounds. Defeating Liam Highfield 5-2, Jimmy lost the next match 5-1 against Jimmy Robertson. Mark Joyce, the guy who pulled off an upset in the United Kingdom
Snooker championship this year, was sent home after losing 5-3 to Alan McManus.
The qualifying round was dominated by the young and emerging players, although the old boys Nigel Bond and Anthony Hamilton have made it to the final stages of the tournament. Young talent led by Jack Lisowski, Anthony McGill,
and the Thai teenager Thanawat, has surprisingly played admirable snooker and made it to their first professional ranking televised event.
The tournament will indeed prove to be a hybrid competition. Emerging players who have qualified for the event, along with eight wildcard players and the experienced top ranked cue-men will compete in the tournament.
The tournament is significant in a sense that it is one of the highly ranked events, held outside United Kingdom. Players from different ethnicities and countries are taking part in the tournament. According to some snooker critics
and fans, Germany can be the next China for snooker. As snooker is blooming and prospering as a sport, in china as well as its neighboring countries.
With more events taking place outside England, snooker will eventually flourish as a global sport. Events like China open, Shanghai Masters, and German Masters are highly ranked tournaments held in countries other than United Kingdom,
which encourages players from different backgrounds to consider snooker as a sport being played worldwide. As in latest articles, the strong desire and need to break the snooker concentration has been highlighted, such events can prove to be very helpful in
this regard.
For instance in the German Masters, 8 non-English players have been awarded wildcard entry into the tournament. These players who are from different parts of Europe including Netherlands and Belgium are non-professional/amateur
players. By taking part in the competition these players will get exposure to the international snooker as-well-as acquire their professional status.
German Masters qualifying round was the last snooker activity of the year 2010. The up and coming year will start with “The Masters” in January followed by “German Master” In February.
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