The first ranking event of 2025 sees snooker’s elite head to the Tempodrom in Berlin to contest the German Masters, where defending champion Judd Trump will be looking to make it four wins in the last six years of the event.
German Masters: Super Snooker Tips, Jan 2025
The top seed will be looking to build on his semi-final effort at the Masters earlier this month but he is in warm company with Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, Mark Allen, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy also making the trip to Germany. Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui are notable withdrawals from the event, which concludes with a best-of-19 final on Sunday 2nd February.
German Masters: Title Chasing Trump
Trump defeated Si Jiahui 10-5 in a one-way final to claim his third German Masters title in the last five years last season and he is going to be tough to stop in the defence of his crown. The Ace in the Pack tends to go deep in pretty much every tournament he competes nowadays and this season has already featured title triumphs at the UK Championship, the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and the Shanghai Masters.
It would be no surprise to see Trump triumph at the Tempodrom again but he could face Robertson in a blockbuster last-16 encounter while recent Masters hero Murphy would provide a stern test in the quarter-final. With Allen, Barry Hawkins and good friend Jack Lisowski also housed in the top half of the draw, there may be better value to be had elsewhere, even if O’Sullivan’s absence has made things slightly easier for the defending champion.
German Masters: Each Way Value
While the bottom half still remains extremely competitive, with Selby and Wilson among those in attendance, there are a couple of sections of the draw that look exploitable. The first port of call to opposing Trump may be with Mark Williams, who is a twice a winner of this event and has held his form extremely well this season, landing the Champion of Champions and finishing runner-up to Trump at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
The Welshman looks to have an excellent early draw to work with, opening up against the inexperienced Aaron Hill, while his toughest obstacles before a potential quarter-final include Noppon Saengkham, Gary Wilson and Tom Ford. Williams should have little to fear those obstacles and that makes the sixth seed a fascinating title contender. The other player of interest could be 2023 world champion Luca Brecel who, after a lean spell, is starting to show some of his old sparkle.
German Masters: Belgian Bullet
The Belgian bullet tends to get motivated by the bigger events, having finished runner-up at the World Masters of Snooker and at the Riyadh Season Championship this season, and an early draw of Jiang Jun followed by Pang Junxu or Anthony McGill offers hope of a deep run.
Wilson, seeded second and champion here in 2019, would have to be feared if at his best but his recent Masters final defeat to Murphy may have left its mark, while Selby is finding a way to get beaten despite clearly being in excellent shape.
By Alex Jack
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