The primary mud has settled following Judd Trump’s terrific triumph on the 2024 German Masters in Berlin.

Listed below are some impressions trying again on the latest version of the event on the magnificent Tempodrom.

Si Jiahui

Whereas naturally a variety of the main focus is on the victorious participant who appears to dominate a lot of the season with nice panache, runner-up Si Jiahui made an incredible impression in Berlin as properly.

Not solely due to the standard of his snooker play, but additionally the 21 year-old’s remarkably mature and seemingly imperturbable persona.

Si’s begin into the ultimate on Sunday couldn’t have been way more unfortunate. He was plagued serially by close to misses, dropping place, pocketing the white, and extra of the type.

However he by no means appeared to lose his calm and focus, a feat extra skilled gamers don’t essentially appear able to always.

It was telling to watch him in his last-16 match on Thursday towards fellow Chinese language younger gun Yuan Sijun, who’s greater than two years older than Si.

It was Si who seemed the senior, and by far not solely due to Yuan’s extremely frequent bathroom breaks. His look on the Crucible semi-final certainly was no accident.

Maybe it would simply be him who could make the grand breakthrough to the very prime that appears to flee Ding Junhui, who was absent in Berlin.

The odd imperfection

Sure, it was a really profitable week once more, and the event adopted the longer seven-day format properly.

However that’s not to say that there was by no means any glitch. The scoring system as soon as once more confirmed that it may be temperamental – fortunately it solely occurred at one of many early rounds.

The desk fitters needed to do some minute changes to 2 of the aspect tables in entrance of the viewers, full with crawling beneath the desk car-mechanic type.

A regrettably undisciplined member of the viewers very seemingly value Zhou Yuelong a most, when he moved on the worst second inflicting Zhou to overlook the final purple.

The at all times mild-mannered Chinese language competitor supposedly was fuming afterwards.

By the way one other run to a 147, by Sam Craigie, ended with two reds being pocketed without delay, so the Berlin viewers was not handled to this specific feat of snooker this 12 months.

Title’s the identical

A battle of two gamers by the identical first title isn’t all that exceptional. We’ve seen, as an example, two Marks going at it a number of instances up to now.

However the 2024 German Masters boasted extra exceptional such match-ups, with Neil Robertson taking part in Jimmy Robertson on Tuesday morning, and the afternoon simply barely lacking a repeat efficiency, when Mark and Robbie Williams performed at neighboring tables. Each of them misplaced…

Moments of equity and gallant dropping

The perfect of equity and snooker being a gentleman’s sport lives on, and there have been two positive examples on the Tempodrom.

Sam Craigie alerted the referee to a 7-point foul in his semi-final match that simply may have gone unnoticed.

As official Marcel Eckhart later defined to me, Craigie had hit the white twice earlier than it began its journey to the black.

And Ali Carter, so typically rumoured to be not the most effective loser, couldn’t have been extra magnanimous when his dream of a title defence was ended by Craigie within the quarter-finals.

He praised his opponent backstage and confirmed a smile. It’s moments like these that reaffirm my love of the game.

Blind religion

There was a really particular visitor within the viewers for the ultimate session on Sunday night.

The gentleman in query, blind from delivery, had been noticed by emcee Rolf Kalb when he attended Thursday’s night session.

He requested none apart from the snooker journalist whether or not this was the Tempodrom upon his arrival – on the stage entrance – coming alone and unaided to a neighbourhood of Berlin that he appeared not conversant in.

A snooker fan who can’t see the sport, but very a lot is in love with it.

He was given an earpiece so he may take heed to the commentary free of charge, and Kalb requested him about his fandom afterwards, the dialog so impressing him that he spontaneously invited him to come back a second time as his private visitor to the very ultimate session.

He was briefly interviewed by Kalb throughout the pre-show emceeing routine and acquired the trademark Tempodrom thunderous applause.

A really particular second of the 2024 German Masters.

The Tempodrom doesn’t tilt…

… nevertheless it may virtually have appeared that means.

This, as a result of the seven desk setup was used much less and fewer because the event progressed.

The look was significantly spectacular with six tables surrounding the central TV desk, forming what I at all times name the clockface of snooker tables beneath the tent-like round construction.

However as of Thursday, there by no means have been greater than 4 matches performed in a single session, so one whole half of the “clock” was with out use, the tables on the left half empty and unlit.

This grew to become extra radical on Friday, with solely two quarter-finals per session performed, thus solely the TV desk and the “two o’clock desk” in use.

Whereas I cherished the extension of the event to a full week, leading to a a lot better presence of the marquee names, and never least the chance for the lone German on the primary tour, Lukas Kleckers, to play his held-over match towards Judd Trump on the very TV desk, I did miss the 4 quarter-finals being performed on the Friday night.

This at all times was a private spotlight, however one can’t have all of it…

Parting glances

Wanting again on an incredible week of snooker in Berlin, it was as soon as once more an unmissable expertise.

A brief second I significantly recall was Si Jiahui’s entrance for Saturday’s semi-final, his first solo stroll on by means of the tumultuous crowd.

He gave a brief however noticeable halt, standing for a gaze into the world earlier than he commenced his entrance.

The enthused 2,500-member viewers is one thing even the Crucible can’t supply, and it didn’t fail to impress.

Watching Trump, a deserved champion on the 2024 German Masters, play typically was a marvel.

He continues to be at a remarkably constant peak, and his dominance was of a form one doesn’t expertise so typically.

He now’s the one participant with three German Masters titles to his report, Mark Williams and Ali Carter being the gamers who’ve gained it twice.

However we couldn’t assist quipping that the “German” title Trump gained when each event was performed in Milton Keynes throughout the pandemic someway can’t totally rely.

I seemingly will eternally affiliate Elton John’s “Chilly, Chilly Coronary heart” with this 12 months’s event, the title being performed earlier than each single session.

Apparently somebody at World Snooker Tour actually likes it. Or simply presumably no person considered bringing one thing else in the best way of music to Berlin.

There’s a visitor e-book within the Gamers Lounge, the cueists invited to immortalise their go to to the Tempodrom.

That is what former world champion Ken Doherty, who solely bought to play a single match right here, wrote into it: “Thanks for all of your hospitality.”

“This is without doubt one of the finest arenas on the snooker tour and the ambiance is at all times superb.”

On this observe, for the 2024 German Masters, from Berlin, it’s Auf Wiedersehen.

2024 German Masters draw

Spherical of 128 (bo9)

Ali Carter 5-4 Michael White
Peng Yisong 5-4 Alfie Burden
Pang Junxu 5-2 Jimmy White
Haydon Pinhey 5-3 Rod Lawler
Zak Surety 5-3 Jack Lisowski
Alexander Ursenbacher 5-0 Ma Hailong
Hossein Vafaei 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Elliot Slessor 5-2 Iulian Boiko

Sam Craigie 5-2 Sean O’Sullivan
Liam Pullen 5-1 Stuart Bingham
He Guoqiang 5-4 John Astley
Mark Williams 5-3 David Grace
Graeme Dott 5-3 Victor Sarkis
Ashley Carty 5-2 Noppon Saengkham
Andrew Higginson 5-4 Jiang Jun
Shaun Murphy 3-5 Xu Si

Mark Allen 5-4 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Louis Heathcote 5-1 Andy Lee
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Rebecca Kenna
Joe O’Connor 5-2 Andy Hicks
John Higgins 5-3 Daniel Wells
Martin Gould 5-4 James Cahill
Zhou Yuelong 5-4 Jak Jones
Tian Pengfei 5-4 Reanne Evans

Jamie Clarke 5-3 Hammad Miah
Scott Donaldson 5-4 Gary Wilson
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-1 Jamie Jones
Zhang Anda 5-3 Mostafa Dorgham
Martin O’Donnell 5-2 Himanshu Dain
Matthew Selt 5-4 Dylan Emery
Matthew Stevens 5-3 Anton Kazakov
Judd Trump 5-0 Lukas Kleckers

Barry Pinches 2-5 Julien Leclercq
Ken Doherty 5-0 Jenson Kendrick
David Gilbert 5-0 Dean Younger
Jordan Brown 5-4 Lengthy Zehuang
Robert Milkins 5-4 Allan Taylor
Robbie Williams 5-3 Jackson Web page
Ryan Day 5-3 Stan Moody
Oliver Brown 5-0 Andres Petrov

Andrew Pagett 5-3 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Chris Wakelin 5-3 Mohamed Ibrahim
Aaron Hill 5-3 Muhammad Asif
Yuan Sijun 5-2 Ding Junhui
Mark Joyce 5-1 Wu Yize
Si Jiahui 5-4 Lyu Haotian
Alfie Davies 5-4 Sydney Wilson
Mark Selby 1-5 Marco Fu

Neil Robertson 5-1 Sanderson Lam
Jimmy Robertson 5-3 Liam Highfield
Joe Perry 5-0 Ryan Thomerson
Xing Zihao 5-1 Ross Muir
Kyren Wilson 5-3 Oliver Strains
Ben Woollaston 5-1 Anthony Hamilton
Ricky Walden 5-1 Adam Duffy
David Lilley 5-2 Liam Graham

Xiao Guodong 5-1 Ian Burns
Tom Ford 5-0 Baipat Siripaporn
Mark Davis 5-2 Ashley Hugill
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Stuart Carrington
Ben Mertens 5-3 Rory Thor
Fan Zhengyi 5-1 Cao Yupeng
Liu Hongyu 5-0 Dominic Dale
Luca Brecel 2-5 Ishpreet Singh Chadha

Spherical of 64 (bo9)

Ali Carter 5-1 Peng Yisong
Pang Junxu 5-1 Haydon Pinhey
Zak Surety 5-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Elliot Slessor w/o Hossein Vafaei
Sam Craigie 5-2 Liam Pullen
He Guoqiang 5-1 Mark Williams
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ashley Carty
Andrew Higginson 2-5 Xu Si

Mark Allen 5-2 Louis Heathcote
Stephen Maguire 3-5 Joe O’Connor
John Higgins w/o Martin Gould
Zhou Yuelong 5-0 Tian Pengfei
Jamie Clarke 5-2 Scott Donaldson
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-4 Zhang Anda
Martin O’Donnell 0-5 Matthew Selt
Matthew Stevens 3-5 Judd Trump

Julien Leclercq 5-3 Ken Doherty
David Gilbert 2-5 Jordan Brown
Robert Milkins 5-2 Robbie Williams
Ryan Day 5-3 Oliver Brown
Andrew Pagett 5-3 Chris Wakelin
Aaron Hill 1-5 Yuan Sijun
Mark Joyce 1-5 Si Jiahui
Alfie Davies 5-1 Marco Fu

Neil Robertson 5-0 Jimmy Robertson
Joe Perry 5-1 Xing Zihao
Kyren Wilson 5-1 Ben Woollaston
Ricky Walden 4-5 David Lilley
Xiao Guodong 1-5 Tom Ford
Mark Davis 5-1 Barry Hawkins
Ben Mertens 3-5 Fan Zhengyi
Liu Hongyu 3-5 Ishpreet Singh Chadha

Spherical of 32 (bo9)

Ali Carter 5-2 Pang Junxu
Zak Surety 5-2 Elliot Slessor
Sam Craigie 5-1 He Guoqiang
Graeme Dott 4-5 Xu Si

Mark Allen 5-2 Joe O’Connor
John Higgins 5-3 Zhou Yuelong
Jamie Clarke 1-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Matthew Selt 2-5 Judd Trump

Julien Leclercq 5-1 Jordan Brown
Robert Milkins 1-5 Ryan Day
Andrew Pagett 1-5 Yuan Sijun
Si Jiahui 5-1 Alfie Davies

Neil Robertson 5-1 Joe Perry
Kyren Wilson 5-1 David Lilley
Tom Ford 5-2 Mark Davis
Fan Zhengyi 5-2 Ishpreet Singh Chadha

Spherical of 16 (bo9)

Ali Carter 5-0 Zak Surety
Sam Craigie 5-4 Xu Si
Mark Allen 2-5 John Higgins
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2-5 Judd Trump

Julien Leclercq 2-5 Ryan Day
Yuan Sijun 3-5 Si Jiahui
Neil Robertson 3-5 Kyren Wilson
Tom Ford 3-5 Fan Zhengyi

Quarter-Finals (bo9)

Ali Carter 1-5 Sam Craigie
John Higgins 2-5 Judd Trump

Ryan Day 1-5 Si Jiahui
Kyren Wilson 5-0 Fan Zhengyi

Semi-Finals (bo11)

Sam Craigie 2-6 Judd Trump
Si Jiahui 6-3 Kyren Wilson

Closing (bo19)

Judd Trump 10-5 Si Jiahui

Featured photograph credit score: WST